Cullens, The Vampire Rulers
by kim93
Summary: What would happen if the Cullens held the position of the Volturi? If they were in charge of the ruling over the vampires and enforcing the one law they hold most dear; hiding their existence. Edward is one of the Elders, along with Emmett and Jasper.
1. Chapter 1

**Edward**

I am getting ready to go to my night psych class, University of Seattle. As vampires, we are weird creatures. Having lived for nearly a millennium there are not many things I enjoy anymore. Luckily, attending college and further educating myself is one of my pleasures. Throwing myself in my studies prevents me from spending too much time at home.

The mansion we currently live in is enormous, but unbearable for me; I have suffered for too long in the presence of my beloved siblings. I love them and cherish them, but their happiness drives me crazy.

Mating is a once in a lifetime event and no matter how many female or male vampires I have met, I can't find mine. Maybe I am broken. Reading their minds and hearing the evidence of their obvious attraction to me makes matter worse because I know I don't reciprocate.

I believe that if I could experience what Emmett and Jasper feel and think with their mates, I might have found mine a long time ago… but, I can't change reality. No matter how much I wish to.

I enter my class and take a seat in the very back of the class. As a predator I don't like to have anyone on my back, I feel threatened, even if it is mare humans. I take out my pretend notebook and get ready for the class.

I feel my phone buzz and take is out to read the text.

 _Saw the male. Jasper and Emmett will be moving in on him later tonight and they could use your help. –Alice._

I exhale deeply. For a week we have been hearing about weird attacks in the city of Seattle on the news. They don't have a suspect yet, but we know better. It is our job as the leaders of the vampire community to protect our existence. That means taking measures when needed. Most times they are harsh and terrible. In the past we have tried giving second chances, but they all ended up worse and they thought we were soft. They thought wrong.

After the terrible mistake of letting Sonia go the first time, we allowed the creation of immortal children. That was on us. Never again. That was two hundred years ago. Now we take action when our existence is threatened before it can go too far. Each creator is responsible for the vampires they turn, if they are found guilty, so are they.

As a family rule we don't feed from humans, we are "vegetarian". The other family like is are the Denali coven, currently holding sixteen members. We have allowed them to enter our government because of it and for the past few hundred years they have helped us to uphold the law. We encourage others to follow our diet, but do not enforce it.

 _Bored. Busy. Take your pick; I am not joining. Ask Kate to go with them instead. –Edward_

I hit sent and put my phone back in my pocket. The rest of the classroom is filled and no one has taken the seat next to me. Thankfully!

"Who is texting you, Sir?" Demetri asks me overexcitedly, as always.

I exhale. "Alice."

"Of course. Anything interested for us tonight?" he asks me. I look over the edge of my eye at him, twenty feet away on his own desk, practically bouncing on his seat in excitement. He looks like a puppy.

"Nope. Kate is probably taking over," I tell him and immediately see his disappointment.

His shoulders slouch and his head bows down as he whines, "Awww," his disappointment doesn't last long. He straightens and bounces again on his seat as he gets excited about the next thing, "Can we go hunting after this?" Unfortunately for me he has better stamina than a puppy and doesn't need to take naps between each happy thought.

"No!" I say and pinch my noise so I don't get up and ripe him to pieces. We don't need to hunt that often at our age and I can read his thoughts. He just wants to hunt for the fun of it, not thirst.

"Man," he whines, "You are no fun," he pouts for a second. Then another idea hits him, "How about we go to that frat party? I heard there would a lot of cute girls and buffy jerks to intimidate," He tells me in a whisper and I see him perk up at the possibility of messing with humans. Demetri gets a sick pleasure out of antagonizing boys into games of strength. As a vampire he always wins and there is no competition.

"You do know that this is dangerous right?" I ask him.

"How so?" His complete ignorance is astounding some times. I look at the humongous vampire. His gifts were only given to his physical aspects, not his intellectual side. Contrary to me. I am skinny and small, but crazy smart. The only one who can take Demetri on in a fight is Emmett.

Hence his bodyguard title.

I was against the idea of having a bodyguard, but Emmett and Jasper overruled me and the law passed. Now I have to tolerate their presence for that one chance that someone would be too much for me to take and I would need backup. Lately, whenever we go to do a job, I let them have all the fun, so they give me a few minutes of peace afterwards.

"Human girls get obsessive over their crushes and they pay close attention to them. Having girls fall in love with you would make them pay attention to the signs that show you are vampire that they would otherwise ignore," Alec says from outside the room where he is standing guard. Unnecessarily.

Yes, I have two bodyguards. Demetri; overly enthusiastic, charming, annoying. Alec; brooding, calculating, annoying.

Maybe I am the only one that finds them annoying. Everyone else finds them hilarious, especially my siblings. They say they wish they has two bodyguards like them, but when I offered to trade, no one took me up on it.

"Fine. I won't touch the girls. I will just break some bones from the jocks and call it a day." Demetri counters and bunces enthusiastically on his seat again.

"Shut up," I bark at them and they go silent. Almost, I can hear Alec pacing and Demetri bouncing on his seat.

I pinch my eyes with my fingers.

My phone buzzes and I roll my eyes as I fish it out again.

 _DO NOT BREATHE –Alice._

I stare at the text with a frown, but I choose to do as my sister says. She usually has a good reason when she sends me warnings in capital letters. I stop allowing the air from entering my nose and scan the room. The reason why I should not breath is so I wouldn't smell. Smell… what?

Then I see the most beautiful woman I have ever laid eyes on enter the classroom followed by the professor right behind her. I am stunned and I feel my eyes widen just a little bit. Her hair has the most massive volume I have seen on a person. It is long, thick and puffy. It goes down to the middle of her thighs and floats around her back so it is visible from the front even when her body blocks some of it. It looks unbelievably soft.

She scans the room quickly looking for an empty seat and makes a beeline for the one next to me.

Fuck.

I guess her only other option was sitting next to Demetri and he looks intimidating as fuck.

"Alright class. Make yourselves comfortable and listen." The professor says as she sinks into the seat next to me and exhales deeply. I see her body relax noticeably and she looks around at the people in the class. Her eyes fall at me and they widen.

I can't move and I can't think. All I can do is look at her cheeks flush red as she stares back at me. Is she as gorgeous as I think or am I just horny?

Her eyes are the most exquisite brown I have ever seen with swirls of amber in them. Same as her hair with a faint red glisten to them. Cute, small nose and bitable lips. _Don't think about anything bitable, Cullen_.

"Hi," she says a little hoarsely, clears her throat and proceeds, "I am Bella Swan."

I nod my head. I was instructed not to breath and I am straining not to talk.

"Do you have a paper and pen I could use? I totally forgot mine," she says and looks down embarrassed. Wordlessly I push my notebook and pen to her. "Thank you."

She rips a page off and looks at the other students around. She asks the girl in front of her for one of the ten pens on the desk and she reluctantly gives it to her. Bella pushes my things back and thanks me again. I nod and turn my head ahead. The professor has started class but I am barely paying attention.

Bella starts taking notes frantically and I almost laugh at her terrible handwriting. How can such a beautiful creature write so ugly? I can feel her heat coming from her body and I hear her heart beat steadily, fast but steady.

The professor announces that we will be working in groups for the rest of the semester and our partners are the ones sitting next to us right now; since we are mostly strangers anyways.

Fuck, again.

Bella smiles a little and turns her head towards me, "So, since we will be spending a lot of time together for the next few months, what's your name?"

She looked at me with such expectation that I decided to just go for it. Digging my fingers on my knees I say really fast, "Edward Cullen."

 _Why the hell would you give her your real name_? I hear Alec think.

My throat is burning with flames I have not felt in years. She smells divine! I see her eyes widen at my name and then narrow as she looks at mine, no doubt seeing them turn from amber to pitch black with hunger.

Every part of my body is electrified with the need to lean forward and smell her again right before I sink my diamond hard teeth into her buttery flesh and enjoy the searing hot fluid sooth the burn in the back of my throat. Her eyes are still locked in mine and in the back of my mind I think that is weird because most humans can't stare at us for too long.

My most pressing thoughts are occupied with plans of feeding on her and covering it up. Years of being an Elder has taught me to always cover my tracks. In order for me to kill her right here I would have to get rid of her body and any evidence that I did it. That meant killing everyone else in this room as well.

I am sure that Demetri wouldn't mind helping. Alec would protest as the more logical one.

I counted; 57 people.

That's a lot.

But she would be worth it.

No, she wouldn't.

Massacring a classroom full of people would definitely draw some attention and that was what I had dedicated my life on; preventing other vampires from making mistakes like I was about to.

I forced my neck to move so I looked ahead and not at her. Needless to say I was not breathing anymore. Once was enough. I lock my muscles in place and intent to stay stone still until the remainder of the hour. Out of my periphery vision I see Bella flip over her piece of paper and make a bullet list. I don't know what it is since nothing in the lecture required one, but I have more important things to do than to try to figure that out. I am busy planning how to best lure her into a dark alley and take her anyways.

I could seduce her. Humans are so easily affected by my charms. I could test her; see if she would be interested. I pull the sleeve over my bicep and flex. I feel her head turn to look at it and almost smile. The undeniable tell of her arousal is coming from between her legs. Heat that only a horny girl would produce and if I were to breathe again I was sure I could taste her juices.

I am sure her thoughts will also prove that. I try to reach out to read her. Over the years I have gotten better at blocking people out and it was a relief; it was always a constant murmur, but at least nothing overly penetrative. Besides Emmett whose thoughts were always booming.

Nothing.

What the hell?

I turn to look at her in question and she turns to see me openly staring at her. She blinks and says, "Yes?"

I look forward and try again. Nothing. She is obviously not stupid, but even if she were she would have some minor thinking abilities. The only time I have not heard anything from a living person is if they were comatosed or drugged on an operating table. I learnt that last bit when I went to medical school.

What the hell is going on?

This woman is such a mystery to me and is increasingly becoming a problem. My curiosity overtakes my need to eat her for a second and it is all I need to recall my reasons for existing, the things we are doing as Cullen; we don't hurt people, we help them.

I see her hand move inside the front of her pant. What the hell? The table and my body are covering her from anyone attempting to look at what she is doing; that makes me the only person who sees her hand moving inside the front of her yoga pants. I can't block my hearing though so I can still hear the sound her finger makes when it moves in and out of her wet pussy.

Damn.

I see her cheeks flush and I see her biting her lip, turning it white. I really hope she doesn't draw blood because the sight of the crimson fluid will be too much for me right now. I look into her eyes and find them trained on me.

I look away, feeling like I am the cat caught with a cannery in its mouth.

 _Is she really doing what I think she is doing?_ Demetri thinks. I don't have the self-control to answer him but I give a little nod that I know he will catch. How can I ask him for help if I can't really open my mouth without losing control.

I am understanding what torture means when I have a beautiful girl next to me masturbating and looking at me like I should help out. I hear her heartbeat pick up and her breathing gets more labored as she brings herself closer. My fingers are digging into my knees making a dent to my porcelain flesh; I will fix it later. She is moving her hands faster and breathing shamelessly in my direction, successfully sending air waves towards me making my skin heat up from her own temperature.

She lets a little moan leave her lips and I see her body shudder in release. I am willing my eyes to keep looking forward.

 _Damn. That was hot. You okay, boss_? Demetri thinks towards me.

I hear the doorbell ring and I rush out of my chair. I get outside the building and I breathe in deeply to eliminate her smell from my memory. It doesn't work, but it helps. I hear Alec and Demetri following behind me a safe distance away in case I snap and tear off their heads.

I can't be near her. I walk to the edge of the University campus and once I know no one is looking at me, I run. I run like a hunted animal because that is how I feel. I am trying to get away from the overwhelming smell of the human girl. No. Bella. Her name is Bella. She has a family, someone who loves her and depends on her staying alive.

Damn it. Alive, she needs to stay alive. _You can't kill her Edward._ She is off limits.

The smell of a squirrel invades my nostrils and I lung towards it. The poor animal crossed the wrong motherfucker at the wrong time. I catch it in one hand and shove it in my mouth to drain it from its blood. It doesn't feel nearly as good as the air did from her scent, but it is what I do. What _we_ do. I hunt for more food and end up with a few more dead animals to bury in the woods. My two bodyguards are also taking the opportunity to refuel, but leave me alone otherwise. Their thoughts annoy me though. I can't make them shut up.

"Leave me alone. Go away. If I need you I will yell at the top of my lungs and you will hear me. Five miles away should be close enough to hear that." I tell them angrily and they exchange a look.

"What if someone makes it so you can't yell for help," Alec tries to reason with me.

"If their gift is to steal my voice, I can still hear their thoughts, anticipate their next movements and ripe their throats out. Much like I will do to you two if you don't leave me alone," I threaten. They exchange a look again. I could take Demetri… Alec would be harder, but based on how wired I felt, I would put up a decent fight.

I try a different tactic, "Why don't you fgo check out that frat party?" I say at Demetri and I see his expression change immediately. He really wants to go. Alec's face shows his panic though. He knows that this means and he is not happy with me giving Demetri freedom to go play.

Before he can voice his disagreement though, Demetri takes off into the woods with a, "Thanks, man. Have fun eating squirrels."

"Keep him in line, will you?' I ask Alec because I know it is what he wants to do now. "No violence," I tell him as he runs after the big monkey.

Finally, peace. I try to calm down.

About two hours later I go back into campus. I have calmed down enough by now.

As soon as I cross paths with her scent, I follow it. It is almost like I can't control my limps as they follow her scent and lead me to a group of people lying on a blanket, looking at the stars. I spot her impressive hair as it spreads on the blanket and the grass. It has so much volume that it lays thick all around her. I look at it as she sits up and hugs her knees. The end part of her hair pools on the blanket and it looks so fluffy that I can feel the hair moving though my sensitive fingers. If I go completely behind her, her hair covers her entire body from my view with the way she is sitting. It is between straight and curly and I fucking want to touch it. I haven't realized how close I have gotten as I inspect her hair until one of the boys on the team talks to me.

"Cullen! Hey, dude, can you help me locate this constellation?" he tells me and points at a book in his hand and then at the telescope he has propped on the grass next to the blanket. All three people turn to look at me and I swallow as impressive, brown eyes look at me startled. I guess she wasn't expecting to see me again tonight.

"Yeah, totally," I say and approach the telescope. What was this guy's name again?

I look at the textbook and then at the sky, "Man, you are not looking anywhere close to where you are supposed to," I tell him, pick up the telescope, turn it almost 180 degrees and look through it. I adjust it a little bit until I find what I am looking for and then look back at the book. "There, it is pointing at this constellation, so if you move to the left, you should find it." I tell him and he goes to work. I didn't want to give him a whole answer and I wanted to buy time before I had to deal with the gorgeous brunette.

"I think I found it," the guy said in triumph and I pinch the bridge of my nose.

"No, pretty sure you went too far," I look through the lens and position him in the same spot as before, "try again."

I sneak a peek at the two girls sitting on the blanket and they are both looking at me. "Ladies." I acknowledge them and bow my head a little bit.

They both smile and the other brunette says, "Hi, my name is Angela and Mike is an idiot. Thanks for helping, but you are just wasting your time. He is an idiot." She says again in case I missed it the first time.

"Hey!" Mike complains.

"I love you baby, but you wouldn't find the constellation if it was staring you in the face." Angela tells him and gets up to help him.

I look at Bella who was still sitting curled up and found her studying me. It was both unnerving and exciting to have her eyes on me. She patted Angela's vacated spots next to her as a clear invitation to me and I decided to just go for it. Her scent was getting thicker and I could practically taste her in the air as I planted my ass on the blanket. How was it that the other two humans were no problem to me and I could barely keep it together with her?

Might as well use the time I have before Alec and Demetri decide that I had enough time alone. No such thing as privacy these days. I think that and then smirk internally at my hypocrisy. No privacy, says the one person that can snoop into anyone's head and find out things they don't even admit to themselves. Except this sexual creature next to me.

She didn't say anything as I took the spot next to her and started to get really overwhelmed with her so close to me, staring me in the face. Did humans really do that?

Did I have something on my face?

I decided to lie back and look at the sky with my hands behind my head and a knee propped up. I heard her heartbeat pick up and the heat in the air increase. I turned to look at her and found her cheeks flashed and her eyes glued on the sliver of flesh and muscles on my belly from the shirt riding up. When I felt the air getting warmer from the arousal that was increasing in her body, I decided that she was definitely attracted to me.

"When you are done checking me out, mind telling me what you guys are doing out here?" I joke and turn to look at the sky again.

She smirks at my comment and lies down beside me, folding her hands on her stomach. "Looking at constellations."

"Failing to look at them, is what you mean," I correct her and she chuckles.

"I guess. I didn't know you were familiar with the subject."

I don't say anything; I just hear Angela and Mike arguing. I turn my body towards her and prop myself up on one elbow. Bad choice, now I have nowhere else to look but her beautiful face and her deep eyes as they examine my face closely.

"A lot more than your friends over there apparently."

She lifts an eyebrow and nods in agreement.

"What is your major, Bella?"

"Phycology."

"Why?"

"Why what?" she frowns adorably.

"Why did you choose that as your major?"

She shrugs and looks away.

"I see. Messed up family? Past?" Silence, but I see her bite the inside of her cheek, "People who choose that field usually want to understand something that doesn't make sense to them. Usually they are looking for an answer to the question, 'Why would that person do that?'" Shit, did I talk too much? I just want to talk to her and hear her voice.

She lifts her eyes and I can tell that my words strike more true than she would like them, "Well, aren't you a know-it-all?" If only she knew, "What other words of wisdom do you have?" Her voice sounds between pissed and insulted.

"Well, I-" I start until the other two join us.

"Mike gave up, he is a big baby," Angela tells us and he grabs her around the waist. I see the telescope already packed and over his shoulder.

"I'll show you a _big baby_. We'll see you guys later," he pulls her with him as he whispers in her ear, "Something big will poke you very soon, my love." She giggles and I turn back to look at Bella.

She is attending to her fingernails with a fierce intensity. 97 eyelashes on the right lid and 104 on the left, two perfect, pouty lips and a slightly tilted nose that ends to a small ball at the tip. I try to memorize her face as quickly as I can. "Well, I should probably leave you to it then." I say reluctantly.

I make to move but her hand snakes out and circles around my wrist as she says, "You don't have to go yet-" she gasped as she realized how cold my wrist felt compared to her warm fingers. I froze because an electroshock was running through my body from the point where she touched me all the way to the tips of my other limbs. Her eyes flash to mine and narrow a little bit as she looks at me and holds her hand to her chest as if it got burned. It was totally the other way around. I knew how people felt when they got burned on the stove and this felt like that. Except, I liked it.

It was a good kind of pain and my body didn't really register pain in a normal way people do; I didn't feel too weird about having such thoughts.

"I don't have to go yet," I mumble and lie back down when she nods.

She remains silent for little bit and just runs her thumb over the other four fingertips of the hand that touched me. "I am sorry I snapped before. Your comment hit closer to home than I would have liked to."

"It's okay, we don't have to talk about it."

She nods then pauses, "What _do_ you want to talk about?"

I shrug and she chuckles, "How about… favorite ice cream?"

I press my lips together. I don't want to lie, "I am on a very specific diet and it doesn't include ice cream, unfortunately. Last time I had some I think it was vanilla. It was delicious." I think.

She hums in approval.

I stare at the sky thinking of my next words, but she is faster.

"Did you like the little show earlier?" She is definitely using her most flirtatious voice.

"Oh, was that for my benefit?" I ask.

She just blinks.

"You do that often?" I ask her.

"No… not really. I just wanted to see how you would react."

"So, it was a test?"

She shrugs.

"Well… did I pass?" I ask because I am honestly still trying to figure out how this girl thinks.

"Don't know. The other two guys I did that to just joined in."

I get up at that, "I am going to go," I tell her and start walking away.

I look over my shoulder and see her pout.

I keep walking before I go back and bite that pout off her mouth.

I hide in the shadows and wait for her to move. After a while she sighs and starts packing up her things. I follow behind her, close enough to hear her, but far enough so she won't know I am here. She pulls out her phone and dials someone. I hear her side of the phone and only a male pitch from the other.

"Hey, Jake? … I am good… How about you? ... Hey, listen. Remember that local myth you told me a few months ago? … The one about the Cullens."

She pauses as she listens on the other end and I am feeling a weird sensation as she said my name. There is a myth about us? Well, there are plenty, most of which we have created in order to protect ourselves like holy water, wooden crosses e.t.c., but none of them refer to us by name.

"Can you tell me the story again?" I hear Bella say and I move faster in hopes of catching what the male is saying to her.

Before I can get too close she get inside a building and I loose her.

Crap. I run and stop in front of it. Dorms. Great. I reluctantly tap into the mind of the people inside. I hate doing this because most of them are horny, immature teenagers trapped in the bodies of college kids, but it is necessary at the moment. I manage to sort through the crap and find her. Room 304. I look at the windows on the third floor and I see a light turn on. Sweat.

Now what?

I could wait until she goes to sleep and then make my way to her room. With what end I wasn't sure but I was going to do that anyways.

A few hours later her roommate had gotten back from dance class and they were now getting ready to go to bed. The roommate presented a problem…

I had decided to still sneak in and try to find out what I could about her.

I was listening to Angela's thoughts, Bella's roommate, all night. Bella was very quiet and she was hunched over piles of paper on her desk. She said she was okay and Angela was not the snooping type so she didn't try to see what had her so absorbed. But I am. I couldn't resist seeing Bella change in the pajamas through Angela's mind. She took off her top and put a large t-shirt over her sexy black bra. I should probably not be snooping that much. I was about to leave Angela's head when Bella pulled off her jeans to reveal a matching thong. She jumped under the blanket and turned off her bedside lamp.

Was it wrong that I just saw her strip? Probably. But I was experiencing a physical attraction to her that I hadn't felt before. Plus, she masturbated in front of me earlier. I wanted to touch her creamy flesh and I was disappointed when Angela turned around and got into her own bed. I have seen many naked women. Too many. None had the amazing swells I saw in Bella's bra, or the bright pink nipples I could detect through the lace. I wanted to suck on them so hard until she moaned my name.

I might be in trouble. I haven't been this horny since I first turned.

I see the last light switch off in the bedroom and I look around me. No one in sight. I hone in on Angela's thoughts. I hear Bella's breathing change and soon after Angela snoozes off too.

I noticed earlier that they left their window a fraction open. They normally wouldn't have anything to worry about, being on the third floor and all, but I was no common predator. It was almost too easy to use the protruding bricks to lift my body up and scale the wall until I was outside their window. I tried to push the window open more so I could slide in. The terrible screeching pierced my ears and I stopped.

Shit.

I looked at the window better and I realized that it needed some oiling. I didn't have any. Think damn it. Knowing I will regret my decision, I breathed the air coming from the room. Bella's irresistible scent made my mouth fill with venom immediately. I spit into the part that was making the noise, effectively providing it with enough liquid to push up the window.

I eased my body into the room and took my surroundings. The girls had steady heartbeats and breathing. I moved to the desk without looking at the beautiful girl on the bed. I know that if I got a glimpse I would have to spend some time really looking at her.

I moved to the desk with haste and started reading through the papers. After only a few seconds of reading I started swearing in my head.

Son-of-bitch. Motherfucker. Shit. Fuck, fuck, fuck. FUCK!

What she had been working on was listing the things she had noticed that made me a vampire. Apparently Jacob Black, the current alpha of the pack of shape shifters from Forks, had told her everything about us. About a hundred years ago we had made a treaty with them and they knew of our secret. A different Black was alpha at the time and he must have passed some of it to his offspring.

Black had no right to tell Bella any of this. What was worse was that she was positive of who I was and more horrifically, _what_ I was.

The rule that we had set was so simple and forward in this case that there was no doubt what the consequences were. Any human caught with enough evidence, or even enough suspicion, needed to be eliminated before they could reveal us.

No.

The thought was so clear in my mind that I did not even try to reason with myself. The family could not know that Bella knew. No way was I letting her die. I turned to look at her then and was stunned by her beauty once again.

In the back of my mind I was aware of the irony that today I didn't even know her, still didn't, but the prospect of seeing her dead is something I don't want to deal with.

I jump out of the window, taking her notes with me, rushing out and running as far away as possible so Alec and Demetri don't catch me here. I am glad I am the one with the mind reading ability and no one can hear the truth I know and am willing to hide.

I think I am fucked.

* * *

 **Thank you for reading!**

 **This is the updated version of the story I started a few months ago. I have spent more time thinking about the problems I run to and the issues you guys pointed out. If you still think there are things that could be worked on, please let me know and I will do my best.**

 **Thank you again and let me know what you think of the changes. More chapters will follow in the next few days.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Edward**

"Where the hell am I supposed to be looking at, Alice?" I say frustrated into the phone. Alice sent me here to this club to find the male vampire that we have been hunting for the last few weeks. I feel stupid standing in a crowd full of dancing people looking for someone who doesn't want to be found. According to Alice, if I came here at this hour I would find him easily.

That hasn't happened yet and I am growing more and more frustrated by the second. Alec is outside securing the perimeter and Demetri is dancing sexily with a bond whore. Nope, two blond whores now…

"Are you were I sent you?" she says to me and I swear I hear her snicker away from the phone. If she is playing me I will be very pissed. Alice is one of the few people who dares pull pranks on me and succeeds because she can see the future and knows what detail I will overlook.

"Fucking _yes_." I say and pinch the bridge of my nose with two fingers. Alice has so been getting on my nerves the last two weeks with this vampire and her inability to get an accurate location on him.

"Good. Hold on," I wait as I assume she is having another vision. "To your right in 5…4…" I hang up and look to my right as I continue to mentally count.

3…2…1… Oh, hell no!

My eyes lock with the same exquisite brown that I have been avoiding for the last two weeks. Bella!

 _Alice!_

 _That little devil._ What the fuck has she gotten me into? As I look at Bella I see her moving towards me with haste. She spotted me way before I did and had time to think about the fact that I was here.

I am still processing.

I look around me for a way out, but it is too late. She has seen me and by the look on her face she has a lot to say to me. I don't like this. Not only did Alice know she would be here, she led me to her. That is either good news or bad news. NO. It is definitely bad news because Alice cannot know about Bella, she cannot know that Bella knows about us and most importantly, that I know that she knows about us. If I were human I would be getting a headache, but as a vampire, that turns into thirst.

"Edward," she says and comes to stand right in front of me. Being thirsty near Bella is not a good things. I have been trailing her in the shadows since I met her and getting accustomed to her scent… it is slightly helping.

"Hello, Bella," I try to be polite and pretend like nothing is wrong. If I act normal maybe she will leave faster.

"What are you doing here?"

"Uhm." What do I say to that? "I got lost." Not entirely lying thanks to Alice.

She laughs at me and I see it reach her eyes. "Interesting."

"What are you doing here?" I try to turn the conversation to her.

"Indulging a friend because I love her too much?" she says it almost like it is a question, but the humor hasn't left her eyes yet.

"What does that mean?" I wonder when Angela, the roommate, appears by our side with three shot glasses.

"Here you go you two. Cheers," she pushes the drinks in our hands and tilts her head back to take hers. Bella follows.

"I am more of a beer person," I say and push the shot glass back into her hand.

She drinks it and announces, "I'll go get you a beer then." She says and disappears.

I try not to groan out loud and lift an eyebrow at Bella.

"It is my birthday and I couldn't tell her no," she explains with a blush.

"Happy birthday," I say automatically and see her blush even more. September 13. I store that in memory automatically.

"Thank you. I normally don't like celebrating, but Angela wanted to go out and it is hard for me to tell her no."

Out of my eye I see something that unsettles me. I take a better look and I see a man with fire-ry red eyes lead a woman outside the club. I tap into his thoughts and it becomes obvious to me that he plans to take her to the nearest ally and drain her veins.

I look back at Bella who has followed my gaze and tell her, "Happy birthday again, but you'll have to excuse me. I need to go find my friends."

"What do you want me to do?" I hear Alec say.

Demetri is busy. Fucker.

"Make sure he doesn't get away. I will deal with him," I say and I know Alec can hear me.

I push after the vampire, shoving people out of my way.

"Where are we going?" I hear the woman's voice getting more anxious as she realizes that something is wrong.

"Just around the corner sweetheart. Nothing to worry about," the male says with a creepy voice and I see in his head that he is planning to sink his teeth in her throat the second they are out of sight.

I round the corner as he pushes her against the wall and she shrieks. I bulrush him and send his body away from her. She collapses to the ground as I run to the male. I am so much faster, stronger, and experienced than him that the only thing he can do is snarl at me as I remove his head from his shoulders. The sound resembles that of cutting wood and his body falls limply to the ground.

"That man was going to rape you. You are safe now," I say to the woman and see her run down the street screaming. I listen to her mind to make sure that I was concealed in the dark. She doesn't remember my face at all and she thinks that I just knocked him out, not murdered him in front of her.

 _There was another male who took off once you killed his partner, I am going after him_. I hear Alec think towards me and see through his mind as he chases after a skinny, black vampire with red eyes.

"He wasn't going to rape her," I hear from behind me and turn to see Bella leaning casually against the wall of the building, "He was going to drain her from all of her blood and you saved her."

She said all that with way too much calmness while looking at her finely manicured fingernails.

"You don't know what you are talking about." I try to dodge.

"Don't do that," she glared at me. "You either say the truth or you don't speak at all."

"Have it your way," I say, I take out my matches, light one on fire, throw it at the corpse and watch it instantly inflates. Then I turn my back to her and I start walking away.

I hear her run to catch up and she starts walking parallel with me saying. "I am wearing my flats, I can catch up."

"Not if I really want to run away." I remind her; she already knows that.

"I know. I am just hoping that you wont." She says and I turn my head sharply to look at her, only to find her looking peacefully at the tall buildings.

"What do you want, Bella?"

She shrugs.

"Seriously?"

She shrugs again.

I shake my head at her.

"I want to see where you are going to go after you just saved a human." She says simply.

I don't understand this woman. "I am going home. But you can't come. I need to have a talk with my sister."

"Would that be Alice or Rosalie?" She says deep in thought.

"Alice," I reply automatically then turn to look at her, "How did you know that?" I don't recall ever mentioning that to her. Apparently her talk with Black had a lot more details that I thought.

She turns to look at me with slightly wide eyes, but decides to shrug again. She is not giving me anything here.

"Why did you drop the class?" She asks me after we walk in silence for a few minutes.

"It wasn't working for me," I say and it is not entirely a lie. After that first class I had dropped out of the psych department all together when I found out that it was her major. I could run away so easily… I just didn't want to right now.

"I see. You probably have had your fill of college anyways right?"

"No, not really. I love studying different things." I offer and try to stick to the truth as much as possible.

"How long have you been studying psych for?" she asks.

"That was my first class."

Her eyes widen, "You took a senior level class on your first day?" she asks in shock.

And I realize I've been caught in a citation where I have to lie because the truth might be saying too much. I try to stick to the truth as much as possible.

"I am very advanced for my age. I studied over the summer and I felt ready for that class." There, sort of the truth.

She narrows her eyes and then seems to be lost in thought as they become unfocused and far away.

"You know what's the one weird thing?" She asks and all I can think of is 'there's only _one_ thing that is weird?' "What's weird is that I went to ask who was the man that was sitting next to me in that first class and the professor seemed to know you by a different name." she says and raises her eyebrows in question.

Crap. I hadn't thought of that. "I can't answer that without lying." I admit.

"How about you tell me the truth then?"

"It is not that simple."

"What are you so afraid of?"

"That _you_ will be afraid."

"Of what?" she says and when I give her a blank look, she continues, "Of _you_?"

I nod.

She laughs and I can't help looking at her like she is crazy. "Don't you think that if I was afraid of you, I wouldn't willingly be walking with you at night."

"People do stupid things for all kinds of reasons."

"Right. Well, to get one thing straight, I know that you were in my room the night after our first meeting."

I freeze and stop walking, "I don't know what you are talking about." I try to go with that excuse, but I am not entirely sure it will work.

"Oh, you mean your are not the 'copper haired God' that was waiting outside of my dorm that all the girls, and boys, were gossiping about?" she lifts an eyebrow but I don't have anything to say before she continues, "Or the fact that you managed to oil the window and sneak into my room at night. I saw the window slightly more closed than I left it, my notes were missing… and I run your fingerprints I found on my desk against any matches on my dad's police computer."

I feel my eyes widen a little bit at what she might have found. "And?" I try to keep my voice as even as possible.

"Nothing."

I exhale deeply and then catch myself. She has been eyeing me very carefully and I almost see her memory trying to absorb my reactions and expressions to each topic. That is funny because I am doing the same but much more effortlessly.

"Don't look so pleased," she warns me and I worry immediately. "I went to the library and started searching the name Cullen…" I smirk. She wouldn't find anything anyways because we only adopted that name after we moved to America. "I didn't find anything until it hit me; that is not your real name."

She looks at me with satisfaction as my eyes widen and dread creeps into my pores. I choose to neither deny nor verify her accusations, instead I will my face to form a neutral expression.

"I decided that your name wasn't important and wasn't going to help either. So I searched for copper haired males around your age throughout history. It is hard to get good results once you get a few hundred years back. There weren't any pictures, but some painters were particularly good. I went into the restricted sections in the library. I took a class in ancient history and it gave me all the clearance I needed. I found journals of ancient Rome and Greece.

Imagine my surprise when I found perfect sketches of the 'Edward Cullen' _I_ met, dated 1007a.c."

She paused to take a breath, "Either you have an ancestor that looks exactly like you, which never happens, or you were there…somehow."

She finished and waits for my response to all of this.

 _How the hell can she be so calm?_

"You have been busy." That's all I can manage to say, as my mind is going a thousand miles an hour thinking about the complications this situation presents.

"Well, you seemed fascinating."

"And does this fascination have an expiration date? I would really like to get on with my night." I try to go for mean and sarcastic in an effort to get out of this faster. In the back of my mind I know I should probably run, or better yet, kill her. But those options are not available right now. Especially option two.

"Not even close." A happy smile appears on her lips. "So, now that we have that out of the way. Why did you give the professor a false name?"

"Well, I cant really go around leaving a paper trail of everything I do linking it all back to me."

"Makes sense, I guess." She pushes her lips and seems to think about something.

"If you have something to say might as well get it over with." I prompt her.

She startles at my forwardness a little bit, "I was just wondering why you chose psych."

I decide to truly test her, "It was next alphabetically."

"Wait. What?" She says confused.

What the hell, might as well go for it. "I started taking classes that interested me in the beginning. After a while I run out of things that immediately jumped out to me so I decided to study all the majors alphabetically. P is this decade's letter."

She blinks multiple times and then asks "Biology?"

"That was one of my passions anyways and I studied it early on. Although I think I might refresh soon. See what new they have come up with since then."

"Anthropology?"

"1948." Her eyes widen at my admission.

"Geology?"

"1972."

"History."

"I lived it, didn't really need to study it. They have some facts wrong anyways." I smirk and she laughs breaking the tension I was starting to feel.

I see her relax a little bit as well and she snakes her arm around my elbow. With my hands in my pockets it is easy for her to fit her slim arm between my body and my own arm. She starts walking and I follow.

"Which one did you like the most?"

I think about it for a second and decide that we have come so far might as well tell her the truth, "I loved medical school. I studied it at a time when science was not very advanced, it was just starting and discovering it along with everyone else was just marvelous."

"When was that?"

I sigh, "1220, Italy." I wait for her to absorb this. I move my eyes quickly to see her face, too quickly for her to catch the action. Her eyes are wide and her mouth slack forming a little 'O'.

"Please continue," she tells me when she can find her voice again. I don't know how long we have walked but I am enjoying her presence.

I heard Alec telling me that he got the other one and he was going to go back to get Demetri, giving me some privacy with Bella. He was always discreet and of the two of them I liked him better. Demetri was too much sometimes.

"Medicine was just being discovered at the time and everything was new and exciting. My first class, there was an open corpse on the table. I had killed people before, but never taken the time to look what was inside them. Too much guilt for that. But this was different. He wasn't a person, he was a mystery. There wasn't any blood for me to get tempted, which helped."

I give her some time to think through this before I continued, "I went back to med school four times since then, each time more exciting than the last. New discoveries, new challenges."

"How come you are not a doctor now?"

I give her a pointed look.

"Right. Blood."

"It is not the blood Bella, it is the constant pain that I hear." I can see that she is still a little confused. "Black didn't tell you about my powers?"

She shakes her head with wide eyes.

"I can hear people's thoughts. Being in a hospital meant suffering along with my patients. I tried it for some time, but it made me miserable."

I see her biting her lip and her eyes looking around and never meeting mine.

"What is it, Bella?"

"The things you must have heard from me. I am surprised you are still here."

"Why is that?"

She just shakes her head.

"To put you at ease, I haven't been able to hear your thoughts."

Her head turns around and she exclaims, "What?"

"I can't hear your thoughts." I say more slowly.

"Is there something wrong with me?"

"No," I exclaim and start laughing at her worried look on her face. "Nothing is wrong with _you_. I am the monster here."

"You are not a monster. You saved that girl's life."

"For every one I save, I have taken ten in return." I say in a grim voice. I see her dorm at the end of the street and release her arm from around mine. "Your dorm is right there. Stay inside tonight and have a good night."

I say and try to turn away. I feel her look at the dorm and then she tells me with a small voice, "Please, don't go."

"I should. I have already shared more than I should. If you know anything about my family then you should know that if it was anyone but me here tonight, you would already be dead."

She only nods. I don't understand; she should be afraid. "I would still like you to stay. Jessica will be at the club for a few more hours, and I could use some hot cocoa. I know you wouldn't like some, but maybe you would like to keep me company until she returns?"

"That sounds like a terrible idea," I say, but secretly I like it a bit too much.

"Please, I'm scared to stay alone until she gets back," she whispers and I turn to look at her only to be met by her back. She is hugging herself and her shoulders are lowered significantly.

The protector in me, the same person who vowed to never hurt humans again, cannot let her be scared when I can so easily put her at ease. "I guess I can stay until she returns so you wont be alone."

"Promise?"

"I promise."

She turns around with a smile and takes my hand. I am confused when she tried to pull me towards the dorms with a smile on her face. I stay still and it is impossible for her to move me unless I want to move. Her body is angled away as she keeps pulling at my hand. I wonder why she is not flinching at the different temperature of my skin.

"You tricked me." I accuse her.

"Yes," she admits shamelessly, "But you already promised and from what I know you are way too old fashioned to go back to your word, or to leave a damsel in distress on the street. So… can you please move so we can get inside?" she tags at me again.

Compared to me she is nothing but a child, but I see the woman in her so clearly that it takes me by surprise.

"Why don't you go on ahead? I will be right there." I tell hear hearing Alec's and Demetri's footsteps nearing.

She frowns at me as if she doesn't believe me.

"I promise," I emphasize the word and she openly stares at me as if she is deciding if she wants to believe me.

"How will you get in?" she arches an eyebrow.

"Same as last time," I leave it vague. I f she doesn't know about my burglary skills I will not tell on myself.

She enters the building and Alec and Demetri materialize next to me.

"Emmett and Jasper will not like this," Demetri tells me and Alec nods.

Alec's head is filled with calculations, "She has a fifty/fifty chance of exposing us… but she has known all this time so… maybe more like a ten percent chance she will."

He reasons but Demetri is led by instinct not logic and right now his instinct is telling him that he will get in trouble for this.

"You will not say anything or suffer my wrath," I threaten him. No matter what he knows that my sibling might kill him, but I will make his life a living hell.

He holds his palms up in defense and murmurs and okay.

"Bella's secrets are mine to decide on and you do not anything about them, Understood?" I tell them sternly.

"Yes, Sir." They both reply and I nod at them as they scatter and I prepare to climb on Bella's window.


	3. Chapter 3

"Rome?" Bella asks.

"Too touristy." I reply.

"Athens?"

"Too washed out."

"Then where should I go?" she says and throws her arms in the air.

I smirk. "I could take you somewhere, but you wouldn't know where until we got there."

She looks at me as she considers that. I see her eyes judging me until she decides to trust me, "Deal."

After Bella found out that I have been everywhere around the world she has been itching to see it as well. She's made me tell her stories of my travels and what I liked the most. I try to convince her that most of the places are drastically different than when I visited them, but she won't change her mind. She graduates early in January and wants to start traveling.

For the last month we have followed the same pattern almost every day.

She goes to class while I take care of my business as an Elder with my two shadows, then I ditch them and we meet for lunch, before we head over to the library where I mostly tutor her on history lessons and pretend to do homework like everyone else. It is not entirely tutoring; I basically narrate my life and she listens to me like a five-year-old listens to bedtime stories. Focused, determined and memorizing every detail. After dinner we dedicate our time doing fun things. Most of the time that means going to her room and talking for hours until her roommate returns for the night and I pretend to leave, but in truth I am not far away. I do take some time every other night to hunt, but that only takes me about an hour. I spend the remainder of the night watching her sleep. It might sound creepy, but that is not my intention so I try not to think about it.

I usually sent Alec and Demetri to finish up whatever we were working on during the day. Sometimes they come back early and I have to entertain them so they don't rat me out to my siblings. Demetri is getting antsy when I don't have him doing something.

Right now we are in her room talking about what she will do when she graduates.

When she first brought up the subject my immediate thought was that I would follow her wherever she went. It was both a satisfying and unsettling realization. I got into a huge fight with my family, especially Jasper and Rosalie, when they found out that Bella knew about us, thanks to Demetri; I still own that little punk for that but I know it was inevitable. They still haven't fully calmed down. After we first started talking about plans after graduation, I went home and announced to my brothers that I will not let them harm Bella and if they wanted to get to her, they would have to go through me with the full intent of dying and taking them down with me. I would kill everyone in order to prevent them from harming her and they both realized it soon enough. They have backed off for now, but I am still suspicious.

The strange pull I am feeling towards Bella is one that I have never experienced before. I want to touch her all the time; I mostly slip and steal light brushes on her delicate skin.

It is not entirely that I am horny. Because I am. A lot. It is more than that. I _want_ to spend time with her. I _want_ to tell her my stories and it is impossible to describe the feeling I get when she is gazing at me in wonder at my adventures, but it makes me feel _good_. Almost like pride, but with something else in it. I want to show off more than I've ever wanted to my entire life. Impressing _her_ boosts my ego like no other time before. Also, listening to her talk about her short, human life is fascinating to me. She is no ordinary human; that became clear to me pretty early on. I never know what might come out of her mouth; she doesn't have an ordinary mind and the fact that I can't read it makes it even more exciting finding out what she is truly thinking… _how_ she is truly thinking.

"Would you like to meet my parents?" I blurt out before I can stop myself.

She stops abruptly and her smile disappears as she looks at me with wide eyes. I am afraid I have made a mistake until her smile returns tenfold and she throws her arms around my shoulders successfully crushing her body against mine and completely taking me by surprise.

She pulls back to look at me but leaves her arms around my shoulders, "I didn't know your parents were still alive."

"Well… adopted parents. My creator and his wife have been parenting us since we were changed and we consider them our parents for all intents and purposes," I tell her and continue after a second of thought, "I don't remember my biological parents." I admit to her with a small voice and I see her face fall.

She composes herself and tells me, "Well, I would love to meet them. Only…" she stops and bites her lip.

"Only what?"

She shakes her head to clear it, "Will you hug me back already? This is getting uncomfortable."

I realize that my arms have been locked to my sides so they won't touch her. I take a deep breath and tell her in the smallest voice she can hear, "I don't want to hurt you."

"You would never," she tells me with such certainty that it takes me by surprise.

She slides her palms over my chest and to my sides, grabbing my wrists. I don't want to moan out loud, but her touch feels amazing; my chest is on fire now. She guides my hands to the small of her back and leaves them there as she brings hers back to their previous location around my neck. She smiles at me and I cant help the pull of the corner of my lips. She then closes her eyes and lays her head on my chest. I rest my cheek on her hair and smell her divine scent. It used to torture me; now it is a pleasant reminder that she is alive and well.

"Hmmm," she hums into me, "This is nice."

Yes it is. More than I can ever explain in plain words. I must not have fully realized my emotions because I start to purr. If I could blush, I would be crimson.

I feel Bella's eyes open at the sound and vibration against her cheek and she leans back to look at me with a mixed look of confusion and fascination. My eyes are wide and startling as I am realizing the extent of what is happening.

"Edward, you purr?" she says a little uncertainly, doubting her own perception at the moment.

 **"** First time," I manage to say in a small voice.

Her brow furrows, "Did _you_ know you could?"

I shake my head a little bit, "I knew I _could_ … We only purr when we are genuinely happy." That's a lie; we purr when we find our mate. My eyes are big as they stare at her. I know she is not ready for me to tell her what I just realized, but I need to let her know that she is important to me. "Bella," I pause because I want to tell her and explain, but I don't want to overwhelm her, "I think… I think I have been waiting for you for a really long time." I keep talking as the purring from my chest keeps going on and on.

I pause to give her time; her eyes grow big and her mouth slightly agape. I am afraid that she will pull away and I don't know what I will do with myself without her. The purring stops and I am about to start dry-crying when her smile becomes radiant. As always my vampire mind is going a thousand miles an hour worrying about nothing. I feel her small hand grab my hair at the back of my head and she rises on her tiptoes. I know that she is attempting to kiss me; I see it coming from a mile away. If I wanted to, I could stop her. I would pull away, or turn my cheek to her and avoid the forbidden kiss. But I do _not_ want to.

I just realized that she is my mate and she wants to kiss me. Who the hell do I think I am to deny my woman anything she wants? And what she wants right now is to connect those delicious looking lips to mine. Well, alright.I meet her lips with mine and she melts against my body. Boy, did my imagination never come close to the actual feel of her. She is torturing me in the most satisfying way and I want more. Her tongue licks my top lip slightly and I suck it into my mouth. She shamelessly moans into my open mouth and pushes sweet scented air into my mouth making me taste her even more.

I don't know how my hand found its way to her ass but all I know is that I am grabbing it and not letting go. Until I have to, because she wants to pull my t-shirt over my head and I need to lift my arms. Well, I am not going to deny her anything.

After she discards my shirt to the ground she just stares at my chest and I stare at her staring. Tenderly, she brushes her fingers over my skin and I start purring even louder than before. Her eyes meet mine at the sound and they are clouded with a dozen different emotions. Judging from the sexy scent coming from between her legs, I'd say that one of those emotions is lust.

"Tell me what you are feeling," she demands without taking her hand off my chest.

"Complete," I say with conviction and pick her up to have her wrap her limps around me as I carry her to the bed. I lay us down and decide to just rest on her side instead of on top of her like I originally intended. I place her palm to my chest so that she feels me vibrating and place my hand over her chest so I feel her heart beating, "And completely happy."

She smiles and curls into my chest. I gladly wrap my arms around her to bring her closer. I have never felt this content and I can finally breathe. I feel whole.

"So, what is the normal process after vampires say they like each other too much to let go?" she asks sleepily into my chest and I know that I shouldn't keep her up too much longer.

"Unfortunately nothing that we could do." My voice is a little sad and she picks up on it.

"Why not?"

"Because I might kill you and that would be too much for me to bear."

"Okay." She says simply.

"Bella," my voice filled with disapproval.

"What?" she whines a little bit innocently and I know she is exhausted.

"You shouldn't take my threat to your life so lightly."

"Too late. You are not getting rid of me anytime soon. Oh, and by the way," she leans back to look at me and her eyes are half closed from exhaustion, "I would love to meet your parents. I only hope that they like me."

I have to laugh at that, "So your concern is that they like you. Not that they might suck off all your blood." I want to make sure.

She nods sharply and I chuckle.

"You are too damn cute," I tell her and kiss her lips once. Twice. Three times. Big mistake starting this. My mind knows better, but my lips don't want to leave hers. They are having too much fun. She throws her leg over my hip and I wrap my hand underneath her knee, helping her roll me on my back and straddle me. She reached to the edge of her top and pulls it off.

I am assaulted with the magnificent view of her breast right before I throw my fingers over my eyes to conceal the view before I say fuck this and have her anyways.

"Bella," I groan.

"What?" she says innocently and places feather light kisses on my fingers that are covering my eyes.

"Please stop. Angela will be back any minute."

"No, she won't. She is fucking her boyfriend tonight and won't be back until tomorrow. That gives us plenty of time," she says and I feel her tongue on my middle finger.

I groan, "Bella, if you continue like this, I might do something not very gentlemanly."

"I hope so." She says and presses her hot center on my aching erection underneath her at the same time her soft breasts rest on my chest. I yelp and she giggles. I push my fingers further into my eyes and try to control myself.

"Why are you holding back? I know you want me. I can feel it." I don't think this woman has any common sense when I feel her palm me through my jeans and pinch the head of my dick with her fingers.

That's it.

I flip her over and she giggles as I pull down one of the cups of her bra and capture her pink nipple in my mouth. It immediately hardens against my tongue and I flick it, earning a desperate moan from Bella that boosts my ego. I am horny and purring like it is no one's business.

I feel her pulse underneath her breast, but I ignore it.

My phone starts to ring. _Fuck you Alice!_

"Ignore it," Bella moans as her fingers hold my head in place. But I am stronger. I unclench from her breast, earning a protesting sound from my woman, and smile up at her unhappy face.

"It is probably Alice telling me not to go too far tonight."

"How do you know?"

"When you live with someone for almost a thousand years, you learn what they are about to do before they even know it themselves."

"That can get boring."

"Not with the right person." I say and lay by her side again, lifting the comforter to cover her overly tempting flesh. "I promise to pick up where we left after I have done sufficient research."

She exhales deeply, but probably guesses that this is the best she will get out of me.

"Fine." She is not happy.

"Come here," I open my arms and she willingly moves to snuggle with me. I feel such strong emotions at the realization that she so willingly seeks out the same physical contact I am craving. "I don't want to hurt you, my Bella."

She looks at me with deep brown eyes, "You called me _your_ Bella."

I hesitate, "Only if you want to be."

"I want to," she says a little too fast and I smile at her. Looking at me, I know her exhaustion is starting to take over and she lays her head on my chest as she snuggles closer. "We are going to see your parents tomorrow?"

"If that is what you want." I say honestly.

She nods and remains quiet until I know that she is asleep in my arms and I can fully feel the effect she has on me. She is lying on her bed with me half naked. She is unconscious in my arms. What's more impressive is that she trusts me enough to do so.

In the back of my head a little voice tells me that she is my mate and as such she would have to fully trust me for this to work. I can't wait until tomorrow to take her to Carlisle and Esme. But, that is tomorrow. Right now I get to enjoy a night with my girl in my arms. Such soft-looking hair; I want to touch it. I smile as I realize that I now _can_ freely and fun my fingers though the silky locks.


	4. Chapter 4

"Tell me about your first girlfriend," Bella asks in a polite voice. I can see her curiosity vibrating off of her. I decide to humor her.

"You mean… my first _wife_?" I ask with a smirk.

"WHAT?" she screeched surprised, not with anger or jealousy, but complete shock.

I laugh with good humor.

"I was married before I was turned," I explain and can't help laughing when she motions with her hand for me to keep explaining. "I was in a miserable, arranged marriage for two years before my wife tried to kill me with a kitchen knife."

I stop talking as she gasps in shock and hugs me tightly, with her standards. I hold her closely and say into her hair, "I'm fine, Bella. It was a long time ago and Carlisle turned me in time."

"That is still a horrible things to do. Especially to someone you are married to." She says and proceeds to kiss my chest with quick, repeating kisses. Her enthusiasm to show me love and affection makes me laugh and I guide her jaw so she can plant those delicious kisses on my lips. And she doesn't disappoint when she tongues my mouth and presses the hot spot between her legs to my abdomen from the table she is sitting on.

I groan, "Bella, we are in public." We have made a stop on our way to my parent's house. We took my bike and Bella's legs started to cramp so we stopped to rest and talk.

"Don't care," she says with a low voice filled with lust as she continues to test my restrain by pressing herself more firmly against me.

"Bella…"

She slides her hand underneath my shirt and glides it up underneath.

"Bella…" I say with less conviction.

She slides her nails across my chest and bites my lower lip.

"Bella," I take a step back and look at her with wide eyes. She has managed to make me hot and bothered and I want to claim her instead of take her to my parent's place.

"Whaaat?" her pretend innocence when she knows better is way too adorable and I can't resist her no matter how much I tell myself otherwise. I take a step towards her and my phone starts to ring.

"God damn it," I curse with hate because I was about to attack her and not care about a thing, but I choose to pick up the phone when Bella laughs in delight and covers her mouth with her hand. Well, there goes my easy access.

"Fucking _what_ , Alice?" I growl into the phone without even looking at the screen and Bella laughs even more.

"You kiss your mama with that mouth?" Esme, my mother, jokes and laughs on the other side.

"Mom," I mumble embarrassed and to my horror Bella laughs until I see tears in her eyes.

"That's what you get," Bella says as Esme says at the same time, "Is this a bad time?"

I turn my back to Bella and whisper into the phone, "Little bit. What do you want?"

"Just double checking when you will get here. I want everything to be perfect."

"In about an hour, don't go overboard, please," I say into the phone, "She is important."

"She must be if you are bringing her here," Esme says as I feel a pair of hands circle my waist from the back. I put my hand over her wrist. "Don't worry, I'll behave."

"Thank you," I say and feel Bella lift on her toes and lick along the shell of my ear. I groan; someone else has not been behaving and testing my limits. I say quickly into the phone, "See you there, then." I hang up, turn around, grab Bella by the arms and walk her backwards until I have her presses against a tree with my body.

"You are making me horny," she complains shocking me and I have to hold back again.

"Are you _kidding_ me?" I say "You are driving _me_ crazy."

She smiles her devil smile, the one I have come to know as one that makes me happy and straining for control at the same time, and runs her tongue along my chin.

I purr, "Bella."

"What? You have been resisting me for two days," she says with disapproval and need.

"No. I have been trying not to kill you for two days," I correct her as I take a step back to resist the effect from the contact, "And you are making it impossibly difficult by the second."

She giggles and my eyes widen as I give her a 'seriously?' look. She raises her hands in the air, "Fine. I'll stop. Should we keep going then?"

I nod and walk to my bike before Bella can do something else to test my control. I hand her her helmet and slide my leg over my bike. I love this bike. It is a European racing one, gorgeous and able to run over 300 miles an hour. No Harley bullshit. The second I mentioned my bike to my girl she wanted to see it and agreed to go to see my parents with it. Of course I wanted her properly geared for this so I convinced her that the only way to do that was to get her ready for it. That meant going shopping for helmets, elbow protectors, warm jackets and gloves. I didn't feel the wind and the cold and if I crashed, I would walk away fine… not that I ever would crash my bike. Bella's body was not the same as mine though. Once she was convinced that having me buy her those things was the only way to get on it… she agreed.

I helped her get ready and placed behind me. That was torture to me. Having her soft, gorgeous body pressed against my hard one for so long was insatiable. In the beginning she gripped onto my waist far too hard, scared at the speed, but she soon trusted me enough to relax and enjoy the ride.

I absolutely loved her squeals and laughs at everything I did. A few times on the way she had felt my hard erection and played with the head a little bit before I told her that it was distracting me a bit too much. She laughed lightly and told me that she wanted to play with it later.

My girl is crazy. But I wouldn't change her.

Now she slides her hands underneath my jacket and shirt and puts them on my abdomen.

"Bella… we talked about this."

"I won't do anything, I promise," she says and from her tone, I believe her. "I just want to feel your skin. Is that so wrong?" hearing her voice sound so insecure makes me take off my helmet and turn around to look at her sitting behind me.

"No, baby. It is not wrong. It just feels really, really good," I kiss her cheek slightly and rest mine against it.

"It that feels good… imagine what it will feel inside me," her seductive voice is way too much for me combined with her words as I envision sliding inside her warm, wet depths.

"Be-lla," I cry as I pinch the bridge of my nose to gain some self-control, "You are torturing me. Do you think I don't want all of the things you are talking about?" I turn to look at her and see her open, trusting eyes staring back at me. I lower my voice for the next bit, "I am just scared shitless that I will do something to harm you and that thought is repulsive and unconceivable to me."

She drops her eyes, "I'm sorry."

I tilt her face up with a finger, but she moves her eyes to look away, "Look at me," I say as softly as I can, trying to sound as not mad as possible. She does and I smile at her. She looks at my expression and decides to smile at me as well. "This is who you are and I would never change you for anything in the world. You might just want to take it a little easier on me though, okay? I am not mad, just frustrated with myself for lucking the ability to be with you physically the way you want to… I was hoping that our relationship was enough without it…"

"It is," she rushes to reassure me, "Edward, it is. I promise. I just… I'm just really scared to meet your parents."

"Why?"

"What if they don't like me?"

I laugh.

"Edward!"

"Trust me, Bella, you have nothing to worry about that. They were anxious for me to find someone, they won't care what you look like or how old you are or how many degrees you have or any of the other matters that normal parents worry about. The only thing concerning them is if you are making me happy. And you are."

She bites her lip and I can tell that she has more to say.

"Tell me," I encourage her.

"What if… what if… they don't care about _who_ I am… but they care about _what_ I am?" She finished with such uncertainty that it tears me apart. But, right now I have to think about what she said.

"Huh?" I say because she didn't really make sense.

She exhales loudly, "I am not like _you_ , Edward. I am human."

"Oh," I think, " _Oh_." What?

"You hadn't thought about that, had you?"

I shake my head because I honestly hadn't.

"Well, it's the only thing I have been able to think about."

"Why?"

She ignores my question and gives me one of her own, "Edward, how long will it take you to make me like you?"

"LIKE ME?"

"Yes!"

"Never!"

"WHAT? Why not?"

"Because it is not a life I want for you, it is not a good one."

"But I would have you."

"Not good enough."

"Edward."

"Not _good_ enough."

"Of course it is. Having more time with you is worth any sacrifice I might be willing to make."

"Bella, please."

"Edward, listen to me," she says and I pause to gather my ever rising fear, "This is not going to work if we are so different. There is a whole side of you that I simply cannot know about or experience because of what I am-"

"What _I_ am-"

"What we are. I want to know you, all of you. I know you are holding back on me. I don't want you to. Edward, please. I don't want a deadline, or a time frame. I just want to be stress free and enjoy my time with you without worrying about it having to end."

She sees me about to disagree and cuts me off, "Think about it, please, for me?"

I exhale loudly and put my helmet back in its place. Bella wraps her arms around me fiercely and I start the bike. It roars magnificently, but I can't enjoy it as my head is filled with what she told me. I honestly hadn't thought any of this before but now my head is filled with a possible life with Bella as one of us…


	5. Chapter 5

"It is a pleasure to meet you," Carlisle tells Bella and kisses the back of her hand; we were all old fashioned as a family.

Bella giggles and keeps doing a double take between my face and those of my parents, no wonder noticing the similarities.

"I thought you were adopted," Bella says to me.

"I am. Don't all black cats look the same? Or all golden retrievers? Similar way of thinking, all vampires look alike with enough differences that _we_ are able to see, but to our prey we look very much alike." I try to explain. Carlisle gives me  
a look that he learnt from me and Bella's eyes widen at the similarity. "We also mimic other people's expressions with someone we spend a considerable amount of time with. Carlisle and I have lived together for the better part of 800 years… He is  
copying me a lot," I joke.

"Hey, there, young man. Remember your manners and don't forget who is older," he schools me playfully and releases Bella's hand. Her answering smile is dazzling.

"And this is my lovely mother, Esme," I motion towards the beautiful woman next to Carlisle. Even though I can see her beauty and I have heard Carlisle thoughts, she has never been more than my mother to me, someone I desperately needed when I found her.

"I am so glad you came to visit." Esme takes Bella's hand tenderly, but she decides to full on hug my mother. Esme's eyes shoot to me and she hugs her back when I nod reassuringly.

"Esme, it is so good to finally meet you, Edward has told me so many wonderful things," Bella says as she pulls away.

"Has he now? I hope nothing embarrassing." Esme looks at me and I shrug. I don't remember saying anything bad so I don't feel guilty. There really aren't a whole lot of bad things to say about Esme to begin with.

"The only bad thing I said was that you choose to adopt that big monkey and I had to endure him as a brother," I joke and Esme swats my arm.

"Don't talk about Emmett like that," she scolds me playfully and gives me her best 'mom disapproves' look.

I laugh and Bella joins me.

"Why don't you show Bella the rest of the house?" Carlisle suggests and I nod at him as I lead her out of the room.

"You got me in trouble. Happy?" I ask her with a smile and a light slap on the ass.

"You did that all by yourself. Don't blame me," she replies and I kiss her gorgeous lips before I can resist. "And yes, I am very happy." She pulls away and orders me to turn around and kneel in front of her. I am little confused until she climbs on my  
back and circles her limbs around me like I am wearing a jacket. I tense immediately as I feel threatened to have someone on me like that. But then she presses her lips to my neck and rests her head on my shoulder as she announces, "Ready for my tour."

I relax a little bit. This is my Bella; she would never hurt me and her easy approach to seek out contact from me, means that she accepts me no matter my weird and uncomfortable skin. I smile and lead her through the rooms. It is so much easier this way  
because I control where we are going completely. A few times I walk a little too fast and the scenery must become a blur to her because at first she gasps, but then barely seems to notice it.

The first room has a giant piano in it.

"Wow," Bella says. "Whose is this?"

"Mine."

"You're good?"

"Yesss?" I hesitantly admit.

Bella chuckles, "Of course you are."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Well, you are good at anything aren't you? Let me guess, you went to college for piano performance?"

My silence is an answer enough.

"How can I compete when you had so long to learn?"

"Well, I only learnt to fill in the time. I didn't have a mate like the rest of my family so I spent the time studying."

She kisses my neck, "Does that mean I am your mate?"

We hadn't actually talked about this and I am thrown off guard by her question; she is smarter than I thought if she figured it out… or maybe she feels the same pull I am feeling. "Only if you want to be," I say honestly.

She circles her arms more securely around my neck and snuggles her face into my skin. "I want to." Her voice is so sure that it doesn't propel me to doubt her; I start purring. I truly believe that she wants to be with me as much as I want to. Maybe this  
could work after all. "How come you haven't had a mate before?" she asks, honestly curious.

"It can only happen once for vampires."

I feel her smile, "It only means that you will be more eager and I will manage to make you give in and take me to bed faster." She licks my ear shell playfully; I feel the touch as it radiates down my neck.

"And there is my little seductress. Not very far away, is she?" I joke.

"Nope," she smiles, thenextendsher finger towards the hall, "Onward with the tour." I smile and continue feeling happier than I've felt for as long as I can remember.

I pass through the rooms quickly and talk about which room was who's when we all lived here about 150 years ago; Esme and Carlisle moved back in about a year ago. Then, I walk to Carlisle's library and spend a considerable amount of time showing her different  
things. I show her some of our journals with pictures of all of us through the ages. We haven't changed at all, but it is a chance to show her my history and all the places I've been.

"How old were you when you turned?"

"28."

"Huh."

"I was considered middle aged back then."

"What?"

"Yeah. People died very young and women married early on in order to have children as young as possible because most of them died during childbirth if they weren't strong or healthy enough. Men needed to be able to support a family before they could qualify  
for marriage. That happened to me at 25 and within a year my father found me a suitable bride."

I turn my face to look at her shocked one and laugh, "Different times Bella."

"Obviously."

"So… you never loved her? Your wife?" she asks with a small voice.

I give her a kind smile, "No, not really. I mean, I didn't hate her… I just didn't _choose_ her and that never sat right with me. I didn't even see her before my wedding day." I pause. "I think she was disappointed in what she found in me." I admit  
to her.

She puts her hand on my cheek and presses her lips to my jaw, "That is her loss and the stupid bitch obviously didn't deserve you."

I arch an eyebrow at her cursing.

"What? I am allowed to hate her. It is almost required." She straightens her neck with a look of righteousness and I chuckle at her.

"Show me more, please?"

I nod and continue.

She seems fascinated and continues to look at things in my hands from her place over my shoulder. My purring has gotten intensely loud in the last few minutes and I barely worry about having someone on my back. I get distracted every time I show her something  
new and interesting because I feel her heartbeat pick up. It makes it easier for me to show her things she likes and move on when she gets bored. At one point she starts scratching the back of my head and for the first time, I wish she were a little  
bit stronger so she could rub my shoulders and neck. I shake my head and continue with the next picture.

Suddenly Carlisle runs into the room. Bella gasps in surprise because he seemed to appear out of thin air to her and I am concerned by the look on his face. He takes the sight in front of him and chuckles, in part because we look funny and in part because  
he is happy I am purring; he knows what it means. Bella's small body is wrapped around my top half and she was looking over my shoulder at whatever I am holding in my hands. I put her down on her feet.

"Everything okay?" I ask him. I am assaulted with his thoughts and it is hard to read them well. "Would you mind talking out loud so Bella can hear too?"

He nods at her and starts, "Five months ago I delivered a pair of conjoined twins. That means a pair of twins whose bodies are joined into various spots and they are essentially one being. It can be extremely dangerous. Ever since I saw them on the ultrasound  
I have been talking to their parents about separating them. I haven't been able to find a good enough surgeon for this kind of operation. Unfortunately, we have run out of time. I just got a call that one of the babies is showing signs of kidney failure.  
The other one is not far behind which means we need to move now."

"We?" I ask and get the answer out of his head.

Carlisle looks at me, "I was hoping that you could assist me on this."

"Why don't you ask Esme?" I wonder.

"She doesn't have your medical knowledge or skills." He replies.

"Why are you asking him now?" Bella wonders.

"Because I know Edward doesn't like to operate anymore. But, I really need your help." He finished looking at me.

My conflicting emotions are winning right now.

"I am here with Bella today, I cant just leave her for a surgery with you that might take an unknown amount of time." Conjoined twins were tricky, risky, and highly dangerous.

"Edward." Bella's voice makes me look at her and she turns towards Carlisle, "What are their chances if he doesn't help?"

Carlisle shifts uncomfortably, "Eighty percent chance that one of the babies will survive. I have to focus on one at a time otherwise it is a five percent chance I will save both of them if I split my efforts between the two. With Edward's help… ninety  
five percent chance of saving both of them."

Bella turns to look at me with fierce eyes and I know what she is going to say before she does. "Why are we even talking about this? I am not going to let you let those babies die just to spend time with me."

"But we came here together-"

"This is more important right now," she presses.

I look into her eyes as she walks to me and circles her arms around my waist as I pull her closer. I see so much trust in them that I feel like the ground has moved from underneath my feet.

"I don't know how long it will take. What about you?" I ask her.

"She could watch from the observation window," Carlisle says and Bella nods.

"Won't you get in trouble for that?" I ask him.

"We'll put her in scrubs and pass her as your intern." Carlisle says.

Bella nods and runs her nails along my hip. I like the feeling. "If you are sure. I don't want you to feel like I abandoned you."

"I will not; I will feel very proud that you are doing something so selfless for a pair of babies and their parents." She assures me and I feel my chest swell at the thought that Bella would be proud of me.

"We'll get your car Carlisle?" I ask without looking at him because I am locked in chocolate brown depths.

 _Actually Edward, a car will still take twenty minutes, we need to get there as soon as possible… we need to run there._ I hear Carlisle think and my eyes shoot to look at his sorry ones.

"She hasn't seen me like that," I warn him as I feel the fear rise inside me.

"What?" Bella asks.

"We need to run there because every second we waste is another problem we will have to deal with later. We don't have time to take a car there." Carlisle explains.

"So, how will we get there?"

"We can run a lot faster than cars and we can cut through the forest instead of following a road. If we run, we could be there in two minutes instead." Carlisle says.

Bella's eyes widen, but I don't see fear… I see wonder. This is interesting. "How will _I_ get there?"

"You remember the position you had on Edward's back?" Carlisle says and she nods, "Same thing. Let him do the work from there."

I feel and hear her pulse quicken but she smiles as she nods at me. I turn around and she climbs on again. I am too busy worrying about her freaking out.

"Ready?" Carlisle asks as he picks up his med bag.

I nod, "Bella?" I can hear the strain in my voice but she obviously can't.

She presses four quick kisses on my neck and cheek and tells me, "Yes, please."

I see Carlisle's expression and thoughts at Bella's obvious affection and adoration towards me, but I push it aside as we walk outside and eye the line of trees. I have gotten familiar and comfortable with Bella's weight on my body by now and I am enjoying  
the sensation.

Carlisle crouches down to take a starting running position and I do the same. Bella clings to my back tighter as I put my fingers to the ground, one foot bent, and one stretched behind me.

"Remember, Bella. I am still the same person after this as I was before I started running." I tell her and she nods a couple times in excitement. I am sure that she barely heard me because she is so thrilled to find out more about my vampire side. We  
talked about me allowing her to see more of the 'monster', but I was hesitant. Now, getting ready to run through the forest with her on my back, I chant in my head for her not to freak out.

She is my mate; she should be able to handle this side of me. I hope. Please, please, please, don't freak out.

Carlisle nods at me and I push off the ground and into the forest like a bullet. I hear Bella gasp and her heart skips a beat before it picks up dangerous speed.


	6. Chapter 6

**Bella PoV**

Wind is assaulting my face and it is hard to keep my eyelids open; my hair is pulled hard from my face by the oncoming wind. I feel a sense of thrill vibrate through my body and the adrenaline is making me hear my own heartbeat in my ears.

I flex my muscles around Edward's gorgeous body and try to hold on for dear life. I know that he would never let me fall, but my instincts propel me to hang on tighter. Not that I mind the way his body feels against me as his arms and legs move to boost  
/us forward. I hide my face next to his neck to minimize the air force and touch his smooth skin with my cheek. I rub my face against it and see his lips pull into a smile as I rub on him like a deprived cat. I don't care; I just want to show him that  
/I like this run. My laughter is lost into the wind but I feel my body vibrate with it and my throat scratching from the overuse.

When he first started introducing me to his world, we came across some glitches with the most major one being his fear of how I will react to his inhuman side. I honestly don't care. If he was a murderer who only thought about himself then maybe I would  
/have reacted differently, but that wouldn't make him the same person.

 _My_ Edward is gentle and kind.

My Edward… It felt weird thinking of it that way, but he said that he didn't mind… actually he told me that he preferred it that way. I honestly didn't care how I called him, as long as he remained the same gentle soul I know. When Jacob first told me  
/about the legends of the Cullens I thought that it was a bunch of bullshit. But the nights I spend dreaming and thinking about the mysterious creatures made me research it more. Finding out the connections throughout the years made me obsessed with  
/finding out more and when I met someone in class who fit the physical description of one of the leaders, my curiosity spiked.

I never meant for my feelings to get out of hand… I never meant to become so emotionally vulnerable with one of the most terrifying vampire of them all. Unfortunately, it was impossible to resist Edward once I got to know him. His natural charm was a  
/good intro, but I was completely lost to him the second I realized what a complex soul was hiding inside the gorgeous exterior. Don't get me wrong, I will rummage the hot exterior the second he tells me I can have him in bed and make him see stars.  
/But I would never have stuck with him just for his good looks. The second he started telling me stories from all his life and his trips around the world… I was hooked. I was so mesmerized by his velvet voice that all other sounds were annoying to  
/me in comparison. I may be mad for sticking around with a vampire and I may die at any moment, but I just don't care as long as life continues like this.

Before I know it, almost too fast, we arrive in front of a building and I can just make out the sign that says 'hospital' before Edward runs inside through a back door. He stops in a changing room and Carlisle tosses Edward two pairs of scrubs before  
/exiting the room. He sets them on the chair and pats my leg to let me know that it is time to get down.

"Where did Carlisle go?" I ask him.

"He will meet me in the O.R. You need to change and go to the observation room," he sets me to my feet with his back to me, "If that is what you want." I notice for the first time how uncertain his voice sounds and I can't understand why. This was the  
/best thing I have done in weeks.

"Edward?" He still doesn't look at me even when I place a hand on his shoulder. So I walk around his frame until I am standing in front of him and try to look into his eyes. They seem fixed on his shoes. "Edward look at me," I say calmly but I get no  
/answer; I exhale deeply to calm down my heartbeat that is still going on like crazy from the amazing experience of running on his back through the woods. "That was by far the most exhilarating thing we've done together and I would not trade back those  
/few minutes for any reason. Thank you for sharing that with me."

His eyes shoot at me when he hears my words and the sincerity and gratitude that are clear in my voice seem to reach his ears. I see the doubt melt away and I recognize the signs of happiness take over his features.

"Really?" His voice is so uncertain that I am not sure he will hear when I tell him how amazing he is and how happy he makes me.

I put my hand on the back of his neck and crush my lips to his. Since my lips are so much softer and more human than his it is easy to morph around his sculptured ones. I don't care. I kiss him with passion and try to put all of my excitement and adoration  
/behind that kiss. It seems to work when he reciprocates and grabs my ass with both hands. This is so unlike him that I squeal in surprise and delight before I smile against his lips. They taste like the sweetest pleasure I have ever tasted. I am so  
/addicted to them that I often kiss him for so long that my lips become sore without me even noticing at the time.

I move my other hand that was resting on his chest downwards until it is cupping him through his jeans. He has a monster in there, I am sure. I can't wait to feel him pleasuring me into oblivion. He groans into my mouth and I bite his lip, causing him  
/to pull his lips away all together.

"Bella," I hear the disapproval in his voice.

"What?" I say too innocently and follow it with a stronger grip on his erect cock through his pants. "Is it so wrong of me that I want you? You make me so happy!" He drops his head on my shoulder as he whimpers a little bit. I take his hand and make him  
/cup my lady parts. I know he wants this because he could easily make his hand so strong that it would be impossible for me to move it. "I just want you to make the _little_ lady happy too!"

He removes his hand the second it makes contact with my pussy as if it burned him. It probably did as I am getting hornier by the second and the heat from my center could easily feel like burning to his over sensitive fingers. Might not be the best idea  
/to have sex after all; his dick might melt away once it gets inside me…

"I don't want the first time to be in a goddamn place like this and you made me promise to help Carlisle, remember?" His voice is not angry exactly…

I had totally forgotten but now that he mentioned it, "Right!"

"You forgot, didn't you?" I am starting to hear the humor return to his voice so I know we are going to be ok.

"Noooo," I stretch it out because I totally did and he totally sees through me.

He kisses my hair before he turns around, grabs a pair of blue scrubs and exits the room. "Get dresses, I'll have someone lead you where you need to be." He says before the door closes behind him. I exhale loudly and start undressing as I feel how hot  
/my cheeks are from his earlier proximity. I have been in love before; I have felt the fluttering in my stomach and the sleepless nights while I keep reliving my day with my man. But nothing, nothing, compares to what Edward makes me feel. I know I  
/am in love, because I do all those things, but under no circumstances do my feelings end there.

I get into the blue scrubs and open the door to reveal a nurse waiting for me on the other side. She leads me into a room with a glass window overlooking an operating room full of medical equipment; Edward and Carlisle dressed for surgery, one small,  
/petite nurse next to them and the weirdest baby on the table. I am sorry, babies. As I look at them, I see that they are connected on their shoulder blade, lower waist and hip.

I get distracted when I see Edward glaring at the tiny nurse and I must say, I am impressed by her body language. She does not seem intimidated by my scary vampire at all. Her shoulders are tight and strong and her jaw is protruding a little bit in defiance.  
/I see them clearly arguing as if this is not the first time they have met or even argued before.

It appears that Edward won the argument because the tiny nurse rotates on her axis so her back is towards him and walks away with defiance. I wonder what the story there is. It was by no means a sexual interaction so I really feel more amused than threatened.  
/I bet there are not a lot of people who can rile him up like this. From what I have gathered it is only his… family…

Holly shit. I bet she is one of them.

My suspicions are verified when I see her hand Carlisle a scalpel with too much speed. Non-human speed. Shit. That has to be one of the Cullens… Which one though? I run over the names in my mind and look for the most likely one.

I move to press a button on the wall and say in the speaker, "Hello, Alice."

All three turn to look at me and I see the nurse smile broadly while she waves and says, "Hi, Bella. Your grouchy man wouldn't let me come see you."

I love that she called him my man instead of my boyfriend. Edward is a lot of things but a boy is not one of them.

"I assume you had a vision of us here…?"

"Yep! Saw you with Esme and Carlisle and knew I had to come see you."

"Alice." Edward snaps at her and I glare at him with my hands on my hips.

"You leave her alone Edward. She may have come here to help you, but she is here to see _me_ and I will not let you mistreat her." I scold him but smile at the end so he knows I am not mad at him.

"She is intruding." He complains.

"She is _helping_ ," I object and point to Alice as she tries to pass a scalpel to him. He snatches it out of her hand and I see his lips move but don't hear anything. "Speak up, my love, not everyone has super hearing."

"I told her that she may meet you only if we save these two babies." He tells me and prepares to make a cut with Carlisle on the other side of him. "Now, please be quiet and take a seat so I don't kill them because I am distracted by you."

"Aye, aye, captain." I say and take a seat to ogle Edward perform surgery.

I look at the three of them working and I am immediately fascinated. Their hands move way too fast and in no time the little bodies on the table become red from all the blood. Alice resupplies a blood bag and continues to assist the two of them. I cant  
/imagine how it would be if they didn't have her, but I think it would be not as easy or fast. It becomes obvious to me that Edward is leading and Carlisle is following his instructions. I am getting horny watching him being in control and I realize  
/that when it comes to Edward, I don't mind his dominating side. He is not extreme, like some porn I accidentally watched a few times, but it is enough that I feel his protective nature like a safety blanket. I know that as long as he is close by,  
/I have nothing to worry about. That realization makes my shoulders relax tremendously and my head hits the wall behind me. One hour in, it looks like they still have a lot of ground to cover. Edward said that he didn't know how long it would take,  
/but researching online I found out that surgeries like this could take more than fifteen hours. I am not going to complain because I know that what he is doing is too important.

At the three-hour mark I am starting to need a break, "I am going to go find something to eat, okay? Shouldn't be more than half an hour."

Edward looks up at me and nods, "Yell if you need me; I will hear."

I nod and exit the observation room. I decide to use the bathroom since I am close by anyways and then move to the cafeteria. The food selection is not impressive, but I make do with a cheeseburger and some milk. There is no rush to get back because the  
/blood was starting to get to me a little bit. I know that they are only cutting them in order to help them, but it is still a sight that I am not used to. I look around the cafeteria and spot a couple in one of the booths. The man is eating while  
/the woman seems to be scrolling through her phone and occasionally she will smile at the screen. On my way out, I peak over her shoulder and see that she is looking at pictures of the twins. My heart clenches a little bit as I study them. They look  
/like they haven't slept in a really long time, the woman has lost at least twenty pounds very recently because her clothes are awfully big and baggy on them, while the husband seems to have gained as much judging from his shirt buttons; they could  
/burst at any second. Grief and stress affects people differently. I really want to do something for them, but I don't know what. Edward is the one capable of doing anything right now and the only thing I can do in order to help him is to just stay  
/out of his way. I return to the observation room and connect eyes with Edward. He looks slightly tense, but seems to relax just a little bit.

Five hours later I take another break of the same nature as the one before. The only difference is that there are slightly more people now and the parents of the twins are drinking coffee in the same spot I saw them earlier. I wonder if they left at all.  
/They look terrible. After I eat, I run back to my man and tell him, "I saw the parents of the twins and they don't look like they are hanging in there very well. Is there anything I can do for them?" I can hear how desperate and almost crazy my voice  
/sounds. Edward looks at me startled from my abrupt comment and I see that the only connecting point left between the twins is on their hip.

"Actually, you can go inform them that their babies have passed through the worse and we are almost done here. All of their nerves are working perfectly. They should be out of surgery in about two hours." He assures me and I give him a big smile before  
/I run back to the cafeteria. I find them in the same place and take a deep breath as I collect my thoughts.

I approach them cautiously and say in the kindest voice I can manage, "Excuse me, Mr. and Mrs. Johnson?" I remember their names from when I was studying the twin's file. They nod at me and I see a spark flash through both of their eyes. "Doctor Cullen  
/asked me to inform you that your twins are doing great, they are through the worst part of the surgery and they should be fine." I say and see the evident relief in their bodies and faces. "He said that you should be able to see them in about two  
/hours."

The woman puts her hand on her mouth and I see tears pool in her eyes. She stands up and rushes to hug me fiercely. I feel so good to be able to give them some comfort and I hold her in a strong embrace as she cries a little bit on my shoulder. The male  
/stands up, puts a hand on his wife's shoulder and looks into my eyes. He thanks me with words, but I also see his gratitude in his entire face. I pull away and tell them that someone will get them when the babies are ready. They thank me again and  
/hug each other.

Feeling better, I run back to the observation room to see the rest of the surgery. It seems like the whole procedure has gone without a glitch, then again, most of the things happened so fast that I was barely able to comprehend some of them.

I see Edward discard the bloody clothes and move to the sink to wash off.

My eyes blink and Edward seems to disappear from my vision before he reappears next to me in a flash. I gasp at the sudden movement and look at him. Before I can really see him though, he is standing right in front of me, his hands moving me to him and  
/his lips seeking mine. He kisses me with passion, the likes of which I have not experienced with him before. I try to match him but it is impossible. He starts kissing my neck and cheeks and I know that he is just desperate to feel that I am alive.

"Did I miss something?" I voice my confusion.

He ignores my question and continues to assault my throat with kisses. I am rapidly losing control.

"Did something happen?" I try again looking for the reason behind this. I don't care how he is manipulating my body, it is his to do with as he pleases, but I worry that his head is tormented by something.

"We almost lost them twice today," he tells me. I gasp because I totally missed that part. "You were gone both times thankfully. I said some unkind things that I wouldn't like you to have heard." He smiles slightly to lighten the mood. I scratch the back  
/of his head with my nails and rest my temple to his cheek.

"But they are fine now, right?" I ask and wait until I feel him nod, "Then you did good! I am so proud of you, my love!" I tell him and wrap my arms around him torso, effectively pulling myself to him and not the other way around. Whatever. He hugs me  
/back and I feel his shoulders relax just a little bit under my fingers. "You know what you need?" I ask him and feel my lips pull at my idea.

"What do I need?"

"A distraction and a reward!" I tell him and look at his face. "Where can we go that no one will interrupt us?"

His eyes narrow suspiciously, "Why?"

"I told you!"

"What do you mean by distraction and reward?" he still regards me suspiciously.

"What else would I mean? You did well, you saved two babies, there are two parents waiting who will be extremely happy to see their kids and I am very proud of you. You. Are getting. A blowjob." I say the last part and move my hand downwards with each  
/pause until I am cupping him through his scrubs.

He is so surprised that his eyes bulge from their sockets and his mouth is so slightly apart that I swear I can see drool forming in there.

I lean in to whisper in his ear, "You are not getting away from this, so don't even try. I can see your brain working to get out of it. Just don't. I want to pleasure you so much right now and nothing is going to stop me." I use the sexiest and most convincing  
/voice I can master and I feel his throat gulp as he swallows unnecessarily. I lick up his neck. "There is nothing you can do to stop me from taking you in my mouth and showing you how good it can be. So, if you would be so kind, you can just guide  
/me to a location that no one will hear or see us." I pull back to look at his eyes only to find them clouded with lust and piercing straight at me.

He makes no attempt to move to such a location as he gazes at my face, unmoving and following every movement I make, like a tiger that stalk its prey before the attack. I would be scared if I thought he wanted to eat me, but I know that he just wants  
/to fuck me right now so I get bolder with that knowledge. "NOW." I insist and he seems to snap out of his statuesque phase.

He kneels in front of me and I know that he just wants me to climb on. Well, who am I to deny my man? I attach myself on his back like a jacket and he takes off. He stops by the place I left my clothes and I see his hands pick them up. We go to a similar  
/room and I recognize his clothes before he grabs them as well. I guess we are not coming back here. The next thing I know we are racing out of the hospital and through the woods. I let out a delighted laugh as the wind rushes on my face and I see  
/Edward smile through the corner of my eye.

"Where are we going, my love?"

"Somewhere where no one will hear you scream."

"What?" I am slightly shocked at his words.

"You have been teasing me for weeks, today I am going to fuck you until you cant take anymore and then you will beg me to do it again tomorrow," he growls and I understand that I have made him way hornier than I originally thought. I made a little dance  
/in my mind at my success and rub my pussy against his lower back.

He feels the heat immediately and growls before he stops abruptly, rocks and tree brunches fly from the impact of his feet. He brings his hands around and makes me untangle from him and land on the ground. The exact second my legs can support my weight  
/he is all over me, kissing me and licking every exposed surface he can reach. All of a sudden he pulls at the scrubs I am wearing with both hands and it tears down the middle. He proceeds by shoving it off my arms with a low purr in his throat as  
/he eyes my boobs inside my bra.

Abruptly, he freezes. What the hell?

"Edward-" I try to complain.

"Shh." He interrupts and I see the look on his face. He only gets that look when he tries to listen to someone's thought.

"Edward!" I say a little louder, frustrated at the interruption at the sexual moment.

He doesn't shush me this time; he just puts one hand on my mouth and the other on the back of my head to keep me from uttering another word. I see his eyes and I cannot believe what I am seeing. I have never seen this emotion on Edward's face before,  
/but I know it from other humans; fear. My blood freezes in my veins as dread makes me lock all of my muscles and stay absolutely still. If _Edward_ is afraid, then I sure as hell should be. And I really am right now.

Suddenly, Edward turns to look towards his left, right before he moves his body to shield me from whoever is coming this way.

"You are not welcome here," Edward says in a voice I have only heard once. He had a phone call with his siblings about a business matter and he used the same pitched, terrifying voice. I am scared shitless right now. Edward is not messing around and I  
/cannot move a muscle.

"Leave now and no harm will come to you," Edward says again and I look over his shoulder to see whom he is talking to. I see no one. Of course, if he were talking to some supernatural creature, they would be able to hear him from very far away. I am looking  
/at the empty tree one second and the next I see two vampires standing there. I immediately know what they are and my fear returns tenfold.

"She is food," the blond haired male says and his eyes narrow at me as I whimper.

"No, she isn't. I am Edward Cullen, and you will do well to remember your place," his voice vibrates with authority, "this woman is under my protection and she is not to be harmed."

"James, my love, we can find better food elsewhere," the redhead female says to the male and eyes Edward with fear. She knows who he is and she doesn't want any trouble. James seems to not care as he snarls at Edward. A sound comes from Edward's throat  
/that I have never heard before. It sounds like a lion staking its claim and territory. It is primal, it is animalistic, it is authoritarian and totally erotic. I feel the vibrations of that noise going straight to my lady parts making me even horny.  
/This is not the fucking time for this.

The woman recoils in submission to the obvious alpha of the species, but James stands his ground.

"I have eight hundred years on you, _boy_. You don't want to fight me, I promise you that." Edward warns and James seems to think about it. I see his eyes move from me to Edward and back again and again as he thinks this situation.

"No lion should lay with a sheep," James says and spits on the ground, "I will be back for her. Mark my words, Cullen. You mate with a human, and I will make her pay for it." He says and the next second he is not standing there. They left so I turn to  
/look at Edward's profile. He looks seething. I wait until he blinks and turns to look at me to know that they are not coming back.

"What- the hell- was that?" I croak.

"Climb on," He commands me in a voice that doesn't leave much room for arguments and assists me back on his back. The wind picks up as he moves at full speed back to Esme's house and he stops at the living room. He puts me on my feet and pulls my blouse  
/over my head before Esme, Carlisle, Alice and another blond male round the corner.

"I am sorry. I didn't see," Alice rushes to defend herself and the expression on her face is one of remorse.

"Doesn't matter now. Keep an eye on him in case he attempts to do something. Where is he now?" Edward demands.

Her eyes seem to cloud before she says; "They are heading out of state so we should be fine for now."

"Does someone want to explain to me?" I say when nothing makes sense.

Edward turns slowly and captures my upper arms on his hands, rubbing them slightly up and down, "We have been hunting those two for some time now. I normally would take them, but I couldn't kill them both at the same time; one of them would have enough  
/time to kill you while I was dealing with the other one. I couldn't take that risk. All it takes is for them to crack your neck and then… you're gone." The idea seems to cause him great anguish.

"Hey, I am fine," I say, running my fingers over his chest.

"Thanks to that, those two are still at large. Good job, Edward." The tall, blond male hisses at my man and the instinct to defend him kicks in.

Fortunately, Edward is faster and fully capable of defending himself, "They will be back, Jasper. Apparently the male wants Bella and he will be back for her.

"If you weren't involved with a human, you would have dealt with them already," Jasper hisses again and Edward's eyes cloud with hate.

"If I didn't want to introduce Bella to Esme and Carlisle, we wouldn't even be in the area," Edward takes a step towards his brother and levels him with a glare, "And don't you ever talk about my mate in that way. You are my brother and you have been  
/my brother for eight centuries. You get _one_ pass. Don't push your luck. Next time you insult her, I will not be kind to you." Wow. Edward looks so scary that if his protectiveness weren't making my heart fonder, I would recoil in fear. How  
/Jasper can hold his gaze is beyond me.

They stare at each other for the longest time as a silent conversation is going on inside their heads. Jasper's eyes move to me and I decide to hold them, unyielding and fully declaring my position as I place my hand inside Edward's large on. He gives  
/me a reassuring squeeze and I continue to gaze at the both familiar and alien yellow eyes of the hostile vampire. He looks so much like Edward that it is unnerving.

He seems to have come to a conclusion because one side of his lips lifts in a smirk I know all too well from Edward. The similarity makes me gasp. "My apologies, Bella." He takes a deep bow, bending at the waist and I have to resist the urge to curtsy.

"Don't apologize to me; you don't know me so you cant really offend me. You should ask forgiveness from your brother though." Edward's chest puffs out a little bit in pride at my words.

Everyone else in the room chuckles.

"I did," Jasper smiles at me and I know I missed something. My eyes turn to Edward and he taps his temple.

"Oh," I feel silly, "Well, not everyone has Edward's talents." My cheeks are starting to turn red and I proceed to hide my face in Edward's chest, hoping that his cold skin would cool them down; he circles his arms around me and kisses my head.

In that moment two vampires appear in the room. The reason I know they are vampires is because they appear out of thin air and the only ones I know that can do that are vampires. Plus, they have the yellow eyes that everyone else besides me in the room  
/has. One of the newcomers is humongous and the other one small and thin. Both have brown hair, messed up from running, and are dressed in jeans and t-shirts. The bigger guy folds his arms over his chest and glares at Edward and the smaller onestarts  
/patting at his head to calmhis hair down, casually glaring at Edward as well.

"You ditched us," he big one snarls at my man but I can tell that he is more amused than mad.

Edward shrugs.

Jasper smiles broadly and looks at his brother, "This is one of the rare times that I get the pleasure of doing this," he takes a step towards Edward and places his hands on his hips, putting a scolding face on, " _I told you so_."

"Yeah, yeah," Edward dismisses them and swats at the air in Jasper's direction.

"I'm lost," I say and the two new vampires look at me, walk up and kneel at my feet, heads bowed and one hand over their hearts, as if they are pledging themselves to me. "Uhm…?" I look around the room for help.

Alice jumps to my rescue and explains, "Those two are Edward's bodyguards and they are supposed to be with him at all times, but he ditched them in order to come here with you alone and then you two had that problem in the forest. If they were with you,  
/they would have been able to deal with them while Edward kept you safe. Jasper told Edward that there would be a time when he would need his bodyguards, but he never listens."

Edward looks sheepish, "Time to go," he announces and both men jump to their feet from their kneeling position.

"Not without us, you're not," the smaller man says and glares at Edward.

"Fine. You guys can follow," he says and leads me to the bike.

"Why were those two bowing at me?" I ask as he hands me the helmet.

Edward studies me for some time before he decides to tell me, "I am the equivalent of royalty in the vampire community and you being my mate… makes you royalty to them too."

My eyes widen at that.


	7. Chapter 7

**Edward**

Before we left, Alice stood in front of the bike until I agreed that Bella would not be harmed beyond repair and shecould take her shopping tomorrow to spend some 'quality time' together. I was grumpy at my sister but Bella made it all better by  
/chucklingand kissing me silly for being so darn 'cute'; her words, not mine. I ordered Alec to run ahead and buy a bed with bed sheets and everything necessary for a human and have them taken to my place.

Bella agreed to spend the night with me and I was not going to have her sleep on the couch just because that was the only available horizontal surface I had there. She was entitled to all the luxury I could give her and I'd be darned if I didn't give  
/it to her. She objected, but I told her that with James as a threat, it was the safest place for her. She frowned. I told her that it was the safest place for me and then she agreed. I loved the place, mostly because it had great sound insulation  
/system and whatever happened there couldn't be heard from outside. I didn't want my two bodyguards listening in on anything Bella and I talked about tonight. Or did…

She walked in the underground apartment with raised eyebrows as I passed through the various layers of security, body scans, fingerprints and passcodes.

"Isn't all that security a bit exaggerating?" she asked me as she set her overnight bag on the floor and walked right to the kitchen for some water.

"It is the only place I can feel truly safe and be able to relax completely," I admit and follow her every movement with my eyes. It is weird to me how good it feels to have her here.

"Now why would a person, who doesn't need to eat, have a fridge full of perishables that look so fresh, they must have been recently bought?" Bella asks with her head inside my fridge. She pulls it out and raises an eyebrow at me before she grabs someeggs  
and milk.

"I might have had prepared for you," I say as vaguely as I can.

"U-huh," she is unconvinced but starts cooking her eggs on a pan anyways. I tell her that she can eat while I shower and head to that direction. I am not sure why, but I decide to move at human speed, taking off my clothes and showering way slower while  
/at the same time hearing her move around my apartment. My ears pick up the gentle swallowing sound as she eats and the gentle steps her feet make as she starts moving to my bedroom. My bathroom is attached to that room, so I can hear her even better  
/as she proceeds, shamelessly, to open every single drawer I have. I chuckle at her eagerness but let her look around.

She exclaims in triumph when she finds my most current journal and I wait for the sound of turning pages; all I hear is her hands running over the leather cover, but never opening it. Weird. She sighs, puts the journal where she found it and closes the  
/drawer. My eyes bulge as I hear the distinguished sound of her blouse being lifted and then dropped to the floor. Shit. Her pants and undergarments follow before she freezes, naked in the other room. I can almost see her with my eyes based on the  
/sounds she makes. Her teeth chew on her lip as she thinks, weighing her opinions. Confident steps originate from her frozen spot and move to the door leading into the bathroom; my eyes move around the shower for a way out and I find none. Crap, now  
/what? Her hand opens the door and she pauses as the hot air invades her lungs. I turn around so the scolding water hits my chest and my back is facing the opening of the shower, making it the first thing she will see.

She pauses again outside the shower glass, takes a breath and pushes the glass door open. The air in here is hotter than out there and I am hit with the colder breeze. She places one delicate foot inside the shower, transfers her weight and places the  
/other foot inside as well, closing the door behind her with her hand.

My chest is taking unnecessary breathes, filling my taste buds with her scent; she tastes delicious. I jump, startled, when her hand makes contact with my back and she gasps at my skin temperature; the hot water has raised my skin temperature and I feel  
/as warm as her. Her fingers feel like silk as they travel over the muscles on my back before they snake around my ribs and land on my chest, followed by her other hand. As she presses both palms into my chest, her own chest comes in contact with  
my

/back; deliciously soft skin morphs onto my hard, unyielding body. Her hard nipples are in complete contrast to the soft breasts that are pressed onto me, allowing me to feel them with my oversensitive skin. She brings her face closer, allowing her  
/chin and nose to touch me when her lips press a soft kiss on my spine, right in the middle of my shoulder blades.

"Mmmm," I am overwhelmed by the incredible sensations.

"You make me happy," she whispers before she presses her cheek into my back and closes her eyes; I feel the eyelashes brush against my skin.

I rotate on my axis, being careful to maintain her arms around me, bringing us face-to-face and capture her cheeks in my hands. She is delicate and soft in my palms, my wet fingers transfer the water to the hair locks they capture accidentally and a drop  
/from the streaming water lands on her eyelash; she blinks it away and stares into my eyes. Her brown depths swallow me, preventing me from looking anywhere else.

"You make me whole," I tell her as honestly as I can. Her answering smile makes me return it tenfold and we stand there staring at each other with giant smiles on our lips.

"Wash me?" She asks, batting her eyelashes. _How exactly am I supposed to refuse?_ I turn us so she is placed under the water and her skin turns moist immediately; she closes her eyes and tilts her face up so the water runs over her face and down  
/her chest. My eyes follow the water without my permission and I am stunned. Small, perfect breasts are located on her chest and I realize that my back sensors are terrible at giving me a full picture of what she has there. My periphery vision is  
so

/good that I can take in her square shoulders, flat stomach and intruding bellybutton. My eyes travel further down to the apex of her thighs and her muscled legs. For a human. I am not surprised to find her waxed southern regions, as it is the fashion  
/of this century, but I am starting to realize what the fuzz is all about. I can clearly see the beginning of the slit that holds her lady bits down there. My eyes continue their downwards travel to her knees, I can see the bones, and her small toes.

One realization becomes evident in my mind immediately as I take her entire form in; she is proportional. Sure she is short, but the rest of her matches her whole body completely. Some women have big bodies with small 'assets' and some women have small  
/bodies with oversized body parts. My woman's body is perfectly suited for her.

It is embarrassing how fast my erection becomes full at the sight of her.

When she opens her eyes again, after she tilted her head back, I have had enough time to take in her full sight and get an erection. She looks down at it with a satisfied smirk and back at me with lust in her eyes. Taking the body wash and grabbing my  
/hand, she pours some of it on my palm and without words, leads my hand on her chest.

I start purring. Shameful, but uncontrolled.

My hand makes contact with her sternum and she guides it so it starts spreading all over her skin. Her other hand guides the hand that was resting my by side to join the other one and together, my fingers start soaping her up. Her breasts perk up even  
/more under my touch and I like the subtle confirmation that I am having the same affect she has on me.

I slide my hands around so they land on the small of her back and press her soapy chest to mine. Yum. As I look into her eyes, I recall what she told me earlier... or rather the question she asked me earlier. I have been waiting to find my mate for over  
/a thousand years. Why is it taking me so long to turn her into someone like me, guaranteeing that we can spend the rest of eternity together? I know that you cannot tire of your mate, no matter how many years you spend together. Carlisle and Esme  
/are an example of that and they are falling deeper in love everyday they spend together. For some reason, I don't see Bella ever getting boring or unattractive to me. Compared to all the other beings I have been around, she stands out like a flashlight  
/in darkness. I know there will be no one else for me… will there be anyone else for her?

"Did you really mean it when you asked me to turn you?" I say abruptly.

She recovers from the sudden topic and replies, "Honestly, when I think that you might get bored of me and I would not see you again… It hurts in here," she points to her chest and then rests her palms on mine. "I don't care about all the negative things  
/you told me about. I don't care. You will help me through them," her certainty at that is unyielding, "I just want to live a life where you can be completely free to show me who you are without the fear that I will not approve or run away or you  
might _kill_ me."

I lift the side of my mouth and my brain is already forming a plan; going to a remote location to make sure the temptation is lessened, stocking up on morphine to help her transformation, having available blood bags for her-

"But," my train of thought halts immediately at the change in her voice, "I don't want you to turn me _yet_."

I frown.

She must register my confusion because she continues without needing to be prompted, "I want to experience as much as I can as a human before I turn so I can remember the difference and cherish the moments I had. I don't want to look back and regret anything."  
/I am starting to panic and it must have shown on my face because she captures my cheeks in her hands and stares sharply into my eyes, "Let me finish. I know _this_ body and what it can do. I also know that I will change and my new body will  
feel

/foreign for some time," I told her as much and it is true, "So, I want to make love with you, before I change, with a body I know." Her voice is so kind and soft that it manages to calm me down immediately.

"I don't know if I can," I say in a small, honest voice. This is my mate; I can tell her anything. "What if I hurt you? You are so… soft," I murmur as my sensitive fingers continue to feel the skin on the small of her back.

She smiles and kisses the side of my jaw, "You will not hurt me because I will be in charge, I will make love to _you_ and you have to follow all of my instructions," she tells me and the purring in my chest and throat comes back tenfold. "Now, kiss  
/me," she instruct and I comply, happily. Her lips are as soft as I remember, maybe a touch softer from the hot air. "Rinse off," I help us get the soap off our chests, "Carry me to bed," _Yes, ma'am_.

At normal speed for me, I shut off the shower, carry her out, pat us dry, pick her up, carry her to my bedroom and place her gently on the bed. Her eyes look dizzy at the speed but she smiles when my face comes back to focus. She moves up to the pillows  
/and summons me with a finger, "Kiss me all over, wherever you want."

I climb on her and dive into her flesh like a deprived man. I am. It has been too long since I felt the flesh of a woman and the last one wasn't even one that was meant for me. Now I know what my brothers were fussing about. Touching your mate erotically  
/is a greater high than drinking blood; it shuts off all other surroundings and it overwhelms all of the senses. My lips and tongue taste her collarbones, torso, breasts, _nipples_! She moans like a cat when I play with them and I know they  
are

/sensitive. After a few seconds of giving them attention, the erotic scent coming from between her legs thickens the air. I move to her stomach with my lips and nimble on her hip, causing her to arch that hip off the bed as a louder moan reaches my  
/ears.

Her small hand tangles in my hair; if feels nice.

She opens her legs, sending a shock wave of scent towards me. YUM! I waste no time and dive in the wet folds of her center. She tastes sweet and bitter at the same time. My tongue captures the moisture and she yelps at the contact. The heat coming from  
/the hole a few inches south of where I am tasting is heating up the air around me and I am afraid that I will catch on fire.

Wait.

With the heat, I hear the heartbeat; strong and fast. I smell the blood. Thirsty.

Bella notices my distraction and her hand slaps my face lightly. It is not enough to hurt me, or her, but it is enough to snap me out of my blood-induced thoughts. "On your back," she commands me and I roll so I am looking at the ceiling, "Put your hands  
/above your head," I place them palmsup on the pillow and wait. I am grateful that she is taking control.

My vision catches her face as she straddles me and I see that her eyes are gentle; she either didn't realize how close I came at taking a bite off her, or she trusts me too much.

"I trust you," she moans and kisses my lips. Thank you. If I were human, my eyes would moist with unshed tears. "I love you," Yes, yes, so much, "You are mine," her hand captures my hurting penis in her hot hand, making me jump in pleasure and purr at  
/the combination of her words and action, "And I am yours." She finishes the sentence and emphasizes it by lining her hot opening with the head on my penis and siting snuggly on it. My eyes press shut.

DEAR- OH- DAMN!

The heat of her is scorching to my skin and completely overwhelming to my sensitive nerves. Her wetness makes it easy for me to slide all the way in and she pauses, allowing me a second to calm down and adjust to the burning sensation. My fingers have  
/the best sense nerves in my entire body, so it is best to keep them out of this; they lace themselves tightly and lock behind my head in an attempt to stay away from Bella.

She drops her hands on my chest, supporting her weight on them and her knees, making me grunt in pleasure as her small fingers brush against my nipples by accident. Turns out, they are as sensitive as hers.

She starts moving, my penis slides in and out of her center and her hands disappear from my chest. I open my eyes to look at the incredible sight that is my love. Her head is slightly thrown back in ecstasy with her eyes shut, her palm on her neck and  
/her elbows push her breasts together. My view of the bottom of them is priceless, but the whole sight is one that is imbedded in my memory and I will never forget. She rides me with lust; grunting with each downward dive and screams, "Purr for me,"  
/one hand dives in my chest to feel the vibration as I happily comply with her demand.

Her acceptance of who I am is so pleasant that it sends me over the edge and I shoot my cum inside her depths. As soon as she felt me purr, she started riding me even harder, triggering her own release and I felt her tighten around my penis, prolonging  
/my orgasm.

Deep breathes enter her body and leave as exhaustion takes over and she collapses onto my chest; my fingers are still locked behind my head, but the rest of my body can feel her. It is awe-inspiring.

I feel complete. I am never letting her go.

She rolls to the side and off me, brushing her hair away from her face. Her hair! My fingers manage to unlock from behind my head and move to grab fistfuls of the amazing material. I bring it up to my nose and breathe it in like a drunk. She starts laughing  
/and it is catching.

I move my eyes to her and see her whole face laugh; her eyes wrinkle at the edges, her nose rises up, her ears move back, her cheeks stretch and her lips form in the most glorious smile I have ever seen. I kiss it with my own lips and taste her sweetness  
/on my tongue. She kisses me with passion and presses her body onto my side, throwing one leg over my hips.

"That was fun!" she smiles at me and kisses me again. Her tongue and lips are turning demanding for my attention.

"I love you," I tell her sincerely, receiving the smile I love the most again at my words. She doesn't have to tell me again, I see it in her eyes that she feels the same.

Her eyes trail down, "What's the recovery time for vampires?"

"Physically?... or emotionally?" I joke.

She bites my shoulder at my bad joke. Well, she attempts to at least; her teeth are too soft compared to my skin. I laugh and roll over so she is pinned on the bed underneath me, "Aren't you a cute, little kitten, thinking you are a ferocious tiger!"

"Don't call me kitten," she scolds me with a frown but I can tell that it doesn't run deep.

"You are to me!"

She lifts a bitch eyebrow atme, " _You_ are the one who is _purring_ and _I_ am a kitten?" referring to the rumbling that hasn't seized in my chest.

What can I say? I am happy!


	8. Chapter 8

It has been two months since the first night Bella and I made love and it has only gotten better ever since. She is still in charge in bed; I am too much of a scardy-cat to try taking control, in fear that I will harm her.

The morning after our first time, Bella declared that she wanted to live as much as she could in her human body before turning and submitting to an immortal one for the rest of her existence. She wanted to experience as much and as fast as she could. After extensive talking, I convinced her that travelling shouldn't take priority; we could see the whole world once she turned. What she wouldn't appreciate as a vampire, was human food. Hence, she has been eating excessively ever since, allowing me to take her to the best and most expensive restaurants. Once she started noticing the added pounds from all the food, I had to convince her that when she transforms, she will shrug all the extra weight off; the process of turning your body into one of a vampire, alters it to as close to perfection as it can get.

The other thing she is bound to having as much as she can of before she changes, is sex with me. And I do not object. I am not entirely sure how she can recover so quickly, but we are having sex at least four times a day. Sometimes more. I don't have a problem, but I noticed this morning that her vagina looks sore, red and excessively used.

My bad.

But Bella would hear none of it and assured me that sex with me was worth any and all discomfort her body might suffer. I frowned at that, but she managed to persuade me with kisses. Not that I can really say no to her…

She said she had enough credits to graduate early and after talking to the university's admin people, they agreed to let her graduate early; she will receive her diploma in the mail sometime this week; her first diploma out of many to come.

She said that in 3-5 weeks, she will be able to eat everything in her 'food wish' list so after that, we can prepare for her change. She made a secret bucket list that she is still hiding from me, but I made sure to take a peak when she slept and have been helping fulfill as many as possible. There were a few things in that list that are impossible even for me, like 'go to the moon', or 'have a kid'. We can always adopt. Who knows maybe in a few decades we can turn a vampire and raise them as our kids? Like Carlisle and Esme did for me. I was old, but immature when they found me; I learnt a lot from them.

I am currently trying to contain my laughter, lying in bed, as Bella attempts to sneak out from under my arm and run to the kitchen for a snack. Doesn't she know I am not only feigning sleep, I can also hear her wherever she is in my apartment? Of course she knows, but as she told me, I can always pretend not to notice. I have way too much fun though to pretend not to.

When she opens the fridge, her hand flies in to grad a bar of chocolate she has in there and stuff it in her face, I bolt out of bed and materialize next to her with my arms crossed and a playful, scolding frown on my face. Her waist is bent and her pink-laced ass is sticking out in an open invitation for a slap.

She squeals and jumps at my sudden intrusion, the sharp point of the chocolate piece is pressing against her cheek, making it stick out, and her eyes are huge as she presses a hand at her racing heart. She swats at me, chews and swallows before she takes labored breaths and I chuckle.

"Quite scaring me in the middle of the night," she whines, moving to sit on a barstool with her chocolate bar in hand.

"Quite being so darn adorable when I do," I fire back and follow her, resting my elbows on the counter and my chin on my fists. "Can't sleep?"

She shrugs, "Cravings," she stuffs another piece in her mouth and her eyes fall to her stomach, which has gotten considerably bigger, before she rubs at it with a hand, "I have grown huge. How can you still find me attractive with this big belly?"

"You are stunning," I say like the idiot I am as I continue to stare at her beautiful face.

She rolls her eyes with a smile and eats more chocolate.

Her expression changes in an instant; from amused and slightly flustered, it goes to shocked and confused. She looks at her stomach for the longest time before her eyes widen and focus on me.

"What?" I say, getting concerned now. She grabs my hand and I allow her to move it to her protruding belly.

I am about to say something when she interrupts me, "Wait for it." Not sure what I am supposed to be waiting for-

My eyes move from hers to her belly over and over again as I move my other hand to cover a larger area; something just moved in there. "Bella…" I mumble, my brain unable to connect the dots out of fear that the answer will be too much to deal with.

"Did you feel that?" she whispers in a small voice.

My head nods and I remove my hands from her, running around the apartment at my normal speed. I pick up her clothes, my clothes, run back to her and start dressing us both. I place her securely on my back and take off. Alec and Demetri are waiting nearby and I summon them; they start running on either side of me as I make my way to the hospital at top speed. Normally they wouldn't be able to keep up with me, but with Bella on my back, the air resistance makes me slow enough for them.

"Where are we off to, Boss?" Demetri asks as Alec studies my worried and slightly shocked expression.

"Hospital."

"Something wrong with Bella?" Alec asks as we jump over a fallen tree.

"Not sure." That is the last thing I say before we pause outside the hospital's back door; the closest one to my apartment and the one I know my way around. It is after three in the morning so most of there is reduced activity. I listen with both my mind and ears and run inside when I know that the corridor I want is empty. My two men follow me and Bella stays quiet; that's because she is in shock.

When I get to the ultrasound room, I place her softly on the table and turn on the machine. While it is powering up, I tell the two men to stay guard outside, help Bella lift her shirt up and squirt some of the cold gel on her abdomen. She hisses at the coldness, even though she should be used to it from my skin, and grab the instrument.

Taking a deep breath, I press it on her belly and look at the picture. "Damn."

"What?" her voice is small but paranoid all the same. I turn the screen so she can see and a surprised yelp escapes her. What she can see is obviously the picture of two babies. Twins. "That's-" she swallows, "How long?"

I measure their bodies and heads; they look healthy. "Based on their size, the size of your belly and the fact that you just noticed them moving… 16 weeks? But I will know more after some blood tests." I print out the pictures and measurements I took and go to the drawers to pick up a folder. I write her name and place the printouts in it. My eyes find the blood drawing equipment and I take it to her. "Give me your arm," she complies and I draw the blood as she processes.

"You told me that vampires can't procreate. I would have made you use a condom," she accesses me.

That's rich.

"Vampires _cannot_ procreate." I emphasize sharply.

"Well… 16 weeks… that's four months…"

"Yes, which means you slept with another man while being in a relationship with me. Did I forget to mention that being someone's mate means there is no one else for you? Granted you didn't know you were my mate at the time, but still. " My voice is way too calm. Dangerously calm. I suspect I am in a daze still.

"I didn't cheat." She objects.

I point, wordlessly, to the screen with one finger to show her that evidence points to the contrary.

"I didn't cheat." She presses again, starting to sound hysterical.

"Whatever," I say as my heart crashes into a million pieces.

"Edward-"

"Don't you 'Edward' me," I interrupt her and dodge the hand that was reaching out to touch me.

"There was no one else," she insists and I divert my eyes when I see hers full of water. I hold her blood bottles in my hand, "I will put a rash to these and have them contact you when they get the results; should be sometime in the next two days. Alec will take you home." Right on cue, Alec opens the door and steps inside, "Put Bella in a cab and come back," I say loud enough so she can hear and exit the room. "Follow her and stay with her to make sure she is okay. I want regular updates," I say low enough for him to hear.

"Yes, Boss," he replies and I run to an empty room. I can hear Demetri down the hallway, keeping an eye on things while still giving me some privacy. I collapse on the floor, shut my eyes and for once wish I could actually cry so I am not just dry heaving right now. I wrap in a ball and let my sorrow swallow me.

I don't even want to start thinking about what this all means.

She- She-

This hurts too much.


	9. Chapter 9

**Bella PoV**

I spit inside the toilet seat, wipe my mouth with some paper towels and flush to wash away the insides I just vomited. The floor of the bathroom looks so inviting that I decide to just lay down. My eyes land on my phone and I pick it up to dial a number  
that I shouldn't be using under these circumstances, but I am running out of options.

"Hello?" the delicate, feminine voice responds at the first ring.

"Alice, it's Bella. Can you come to me, please?"

"I'll be right there," She hangs up and I make my way to the bed, straining with every movement.

As soon as I pull the blankets over my baby pump, there is a knock on the door, "Come in, Alice." My voice sounds terrible even to my own ears.

Alice's head pops in and her eyes meet my face before they widen at what they see and she bolts inside the room yelling, "Jasper, come up here right now." I know that he must be far away that she needs to yell, but he will be here momentarily, hearing  
the panic in her voice. Sure enough, Jasper materializes next to her as she takes a seat at the edge of my bed and places her cold fingers on my forehead. "What happened to you?" Her eyes are absorbing the terrible state of my face; hollow cheeks,  
purple circles under my eyes, chapped lips and at least twenty pounds lighter than I should be.

I push the comforter down so she can see the baby belly and say, "Your brother happened to me." At the mention of Edward, his face pops in my memory and I smile at my love.

"Please continue," Jasper says. He can sense emotions and intentions and he knows I am not lying.

"Your brother left me about a month ago when he thought I had cheated on him and gotten myself pregnant with another man's baby. The Idiot," I say and smile at my silly man. I know he hurts and his brain is stupid, but I still love and cherish him. "When  
he found out, it was confirmed that the babies were four months old. Yesterday, I went back to the doctor and she said they are six months old and the first time I had sex with Edward was three months ago." Both of them frown at what I am saying.  
"That means that they are growing twice as fast as normal babies do. That is because they are Edward's so everything we know about normal pregnancies is off the table."

Jasper runs a hand over his face and gazes at the ceiling, looking for help there.

"There is something else too." I hesitate but Alice's face tells me to keep going. "I think the babies are sucking me dry and I don't know how much longer I can keep going like this."

"What does that mean?"

I lift up my shirt until it is only covering my breasts. Alice gasps as she clearly sees the bones on my ribs and hips along with the bruises all over my abdomen. Baby A decides to say hi at that moment and sticks a hand out to Alice. She gasps when she  
sees the shape of the palm and fingers and places her own hand against it. My skin is so bruised that her cold hand feels amazing, earning a moan from me. Baby A presses harder and Alice's brow furrows.

"They are strong. Maybe too strong for me. I need help and you are the only person I could think to call who would show up," I tell Alice and look deep into her beautiful and familiar yellow eyes.

She takes my face in her hands and a tear slips out of my eye when she kisses my cheek. I imagine it is someone else's cold lips and for a second pretend that he is back. "Of course, Bella. I will do everything I can to help."

"I am so going to kick Edward's ass," Jasper murmurs and I smile fondly at him.

"You and me both," I agree and he nods in confirmation, "but there two guys are more important right now. We have to help them first before anything else," I run my hand over my belly and pull my shirt down again, covering up my beat-up body.

"We should take you to Carlisle," Jasper says, "Alice and I know some things about medicine but Carlisle is the best of all of us. Besides Edward," he adds in a sullen voice.

I smile tired, "Whatever you guys thing is best. I did all I could and I have reached my limit, so I asked for help." I yawn.

"That is very… mature of you," Jasper observes.

"Thanks," I smile and my eyes flutter closed, "Babies take a lot out of me and I need to take regular naps. Could you look over me while I close my eyes for a second?" I ask Alice and close my eyes as I see her nod, knowing I will get the most comfortable  
sleep I've gotten since Edward ordered Alec to put me in a cab.

"We will pack and get ready while you rest," Alice assures me.

"Could one of you… hold me? Please?" I say in a small voice but thanks to their hearing abilities, my soft words reach them. I feel the bed dip next to me and smile when strong, cold arms wrap me up and press me against a chest. From the size and lack  
of boobs, I'd say it is Jasper, "Thanks," I murmur and fall into a deep sleep, imagining that he is Edward.

When I wake up next, I haven't moved at all and neither has Jasper. My eyes focus on someone moving around my bedroom at inhuman speed and manage to see Alice when she pauses for a second longer over my suitcase. If I know my clothes, I'd say they all  
have managed to fit inside it. She is holding her phone in her earand I see her lips moving. Judging from the speed and the low volume, she is speaking to a vampire.

I stretch and feel Baby B roll around inside me.

"Wow," Jasper says as he feels the same baby that is pressed against his side.

"Yeah, he is a little swimmer," I confirm and look at his face. My heart warms and hurts at the same time as I take in the similar features he and Edward share. Jasper's eyes warm up as he experiences the spectrum of my emotions and he smiles fondly;  
there it is, the same smile Edward gave me in the kitchen of his apartment when he caught me eating chocolate. Jasper's eyes turn sad. "I miss him," I whisper to him because he can already feel it.

He kisses my forehead, "I know. He will come around," he assures me and hops off the bed. He babysat me long enough.

"Alright, all ready to move," Alice says bouncing and holds my jacket for me to wear.

I make my way off the bed, slowly, "Where are we going?"

"Carlisle and Esme's place. You have been there before," she reassures me and picks up a humongous bag to place over her shoulder. I look around the room and realize that it is mostly empty. "I've packed everything you might need. Now let's go!"

Jasper is already waiting for us in the car when I manage to wobble to it. Alice gives me the passenger seat in the front because it has more room while she gets squished with all the extra things in the back seat.

The drive takes three hours and we have to stop every forty minutes for me to either pee or throw up. Both of my friends are very patient with me but I hear the low murmur as they talk to each other in voices too low for me to hear. Alice and I chat some  
when I find the energy but they both let me nap for as long as I want.

Eventually, we pull in front of the beautiful house that I loved the first time around and I gaze outside the window to see Esme and Carlisle waiting for us at the front steps. I open the door and Esme rushes to my side to help me. With my big belly,  
my balance is all out of whack and I appreciate the cold steady hands that pull me out of the car and into her motherly embrace.

"Bella, it is so good to see you!" her voice is true and honest with longing and relief.

"Esme-" I start sobbing in her arms and she pats my back reassuringly. The overwhelming warmth I feel from her, despite her skin temperature, makes me let go completely. All the longing and depression I have been feeling this last month has been building  
up inside me but I managed to keep it locked up. Now that I am with people who truly care, I let go. Esme picks me up like a baby and carries me inside the house, murmuring sweet nothings in an accent that matches her son's so much that I fantasies  
a different, more male pitch to it.

She places me on a soft couch and hands me a napkin to clean my face and nose with. Carlisle gives me a warm mug with a hot liquid and assures me that it will help. "It doesn't have any alcohol does it? I am pregnant."

He barks a laugh and looks at me with kind eyes, "I am quite aware of your condition, Bella. I am also a doctor."

"It's just that when people pass me something that 'will help' it usually has 40% concentration." I defend and take a sip; it tastes delicious.

"No worries. Now tell me what happened," he says kindly and seats on the coffee table in front of me. Taking his cue, everyone else also takes a seat; they don't need to, but it is nice not to have them hovering.

I tell Carlisle everything. How Edward is the only man I have been with in over a year but he thought I cheated anyways. How I have been doing my best to take care of them and me this last month but I seem to be failing because they are really starting  
to take a lot out of me . I also tell them in a whisper how tired and scared I am. "And I miss him so much," I bite my lip as I focus on my fingers.

Carlisle's hand on my knee is reassuring, but not what I need. I need _him_.

"Well, how about we start by taking a look at you, huh? I have an examination room upstairs. That will give me an idea of what we are dealing with and how to best help you."

I nod at him and say, "Well, if you want me upstairs, you will have to get me there." He smiles and lifts me up. My head rests on his cold shoulder and I close my eyes, imagining that he is Edward.

"I don't like how weak you are," he says concerned.

"Sorry. Haven't been eating well. I throw up a lot and can't get a restful sleep to recuperate."

"Why is that?"

"Not sure. I can't calm down enough. The most restful sleep I have gotten in a month was today when Jasper was holding me," I admit in a small voice.

"Interesting."

* * *

Jasper places the phone on his ear.

"Brother, what's up?" Emmett says on the other side of the line.

"How long have you waited to kick Edward's ass?" Jasper smirks at his brother.

Emmett barks a laugh, "Since I met the Bastard. Why, what did he do?"

"I'll tell you when we meet. You need to pull together as many of our people as you can. He is not going to go down easily and I need to get him to Carlisle's place."

"You want to beat up our little brother? I am in!" Emmett says happily. They refer to him as their little brother even though he is both older and wiser than both of them. But he is not wiser right _now_. "I have some vamps who have been waiting  
for a fair shot at Edward for decades."

"You talking about Denali?" Jasper asks and Alice kinks an eyebrow as she is hit with a vision of the plan that is going to be happening.

"Not just her. There are over a hundred vamps our Bro has pissed over the centuries but they know he is too powerful for them. I will give them all a call and get back to you." He hangs up but Jasper could hear the obvious enthusiasm in his voice.

"Is it going to work?" he asks Alice.

She narrows her eyes at him. "Maybe."


	10. Chapter 10

"I found him," Alice says with a triumphant voice through the phone. I told her to keep an eye on this guy I have been hunting and let me know as soon as I can move in on him. "I will send you the address." I hang up and wait for the text.

Mapping the new location in my head is second nature and I take off in that direction at full speed. When I get outside the house, I hone in on his thoughts and pinpoint his exact location; he is alone so this should be a hell of a lot easier than I originally  
/hoped. I bust in through the window on the first floor, landing perfectly on my feet, taking him by surprise and jump on him. He manages to snarl at me before my hand comes down on the side of his neck and decapitates him in one movement.

Mission accomplished. Boring.

I sigh, tear up the rest of the limbs and light them on fire before I exit the house and pause; a wave of thoughts penetrates my brain, causing a momentary confusion. There are too many minds to focus on, all in equal proximity and overpowering. I shut  
/my eyes and press the heels of my hands on them to attempt to block some out and focus on some of them.

Out of nowhere something collides with my back, sending my body forward at the speed of a bullet, crashing into the trees ahead of me and breaking them up, causing trees to fall behind me at a slower pace than I propel through them. They shouldn't have  
/been able to catch me off guard, but I was distracted by all the noises in my head. My body continues to fly forward until I brace my foot on a branch and take control of my movement, making sure to land on the forest-y ground with grace. I can hear  
/voices, vampire minds, speaking and thinking from behind every single tree all around me for at least five hundred feet. Must be at least 250-300 of them.

I take in my surroundings and snarl wildly. "Alec, Demitri," I yell, knowing they are not far away and today is the day they will prove their usefulness.

"Yes, Boss?" Demitri steps around a tree and leans against it casually, glaring at me. _What_?

"You asked for us?" Alec mirrors his friend's pose a few feet away and smirks at me. I have never, ever, in all the years I know Alec, seen him smirk at anything.

 _The hell_?

"You guys are with them?" I snarl, reading their thoughts, "This is treason and you will be punished for it."

Demitri shakes his head, amused, while Alec replies me, "It is not treason if you are following orders."

"Whose orders?"

I must be losing my mind because Emmett and Jasper join them with cocky looks on their faces. "You should come quietly brother," Jasper says.

"Is that why all these traitors are here?" I motion with a finger to the vamps who are slowly revealing themselves from behind the trees, "because you expect me to go _quietly_?"

Jasper shrugs, "Alice said you wouldn't, and I am still trying to prove her wrong for once in our immortal lives."

"Well, you know Alice," I say as I hear the thoughts of the idiot who is planning to wrap me in a headlock from behind, "She is always right." I spin around way too fast for the newborn vamp and dive my fingers in his eye, plucking it out of its socket  
/and flicking it over the trees like a small baseball. He curses, follows it with his other eye and runs after it. He will be fine, but distracted for a while. I can't afford to be distracted or waste time. I grab the hand of the female who was about  
/to grab my hair and rotate her in a circle, releasing and letting her fly into the night air with impressive force. _Hands off the hair, Bitch_. I estimate the time it takes her to land and race back here… one minute twenty four seconds.

Next.

My fingers grab the ear of a female, tear it off her head and shove it in the mouth of the male next to her. She yelps and thrusts her hand in his mouth to retreat it but he reflexively bites down on it, causing a yelp of pain from her; they will be busy  
/for some time and she will have a small scar where the skin was severed.

I ripe onearm, two legs and one more ear, sending four bodies flying in various directions, before I hear clear words in my head; _Edward, Stop. You are only making this worse and we are not going to stop._ Emmett, only that knucklehead could  
break

through all those voice. _We only want to take you to Carlisle's Place where Bella is waiting for you. STOP._

This causes enough confusion to make me stop and lock eyes with my brother. His thoughts are easier to focus like this and he recalls an image of Bella; she is showing him and Rosalie her belly, heavy bruising is coating the surface in a way that normal  
/human babies wouldn't be able to inflict. Another image follows it; Emmett puts a hand on Bella's belly, she sighs at the cool touch, and one tiny hand high-fives Emmett through the skin. The pressure is too strong and Bella winces before she looks  
/into his eyes and smiles fondly saying, 'That's baby B. He likes to high-five people. I think he takes after _you_ more than Edward in that matter.' She then smiles in his memory and I see her beautiful face as he did. Too painful for me to watch.

The memories are enough for someone to cowboy a chain around my body and pull tight, trapping my arms to my sides. The chain is strong, especially made by me about a hundred years ago to hold someone from our kind, I see the Cullen crest I crafted on  
/one of the locks. So, I decide to run. My feet are still free so I plant them firmly on the ground and take off. The guy who was holding the end of the chain was too young to predict my movement and I drag him behind me on the ground. It is impressive  
/that he is still holding onto the chain. Three other vamps quickly join him and together manage to slow me enough for the rest of them to grab hold of it and still me so my feet are running in place, digging into the ground.

I start walking around, having them be the constant point and me swinging like a pendulum. Emmett snarls and grabs me by the shoulders, halts my movement and stares into my eyes assaulting me with images he knows are too strong and too emotional for me.  
/He has always known that his mind is particularly hard for me to block and he is using it now to his advantage. He shows me an image of Bella and Carlisle when he examines her with an ultrasound machine, he frowns in the memory and says that the babies  
/are getting stronger and affecting the fluids in the womb, making their image hard to read. Another image is of Rosalie and Bella roasting marshmallows by the bonfire in the back of Carlisle's house; the warm light from the fire makes her skin color  
/change and the shadows dance on her face as she smiles. Emmett remembers looking at Bella as she looks around the bonfire, taking in the faces, realizing that mine is missing and her eyes move down as her whole face turns sad.

"Stop," I moan but Emmett grabs my head in his hands and stares inside my eyes intently.

"You will hear this, you little shit, because Bella is the best thing that has ever happened to you and you as usual decided to _Edward_ this instead of being happy," he snarls. I hate it when he uses my name as a verb. An image of Bella penetrates  
/his brain and mine by default; she is crying in a corner of my room in Carlisle's house, eyes red, cheeks wet and a runny nose, holding a picture of me to her chest. Emmett leans down, picks her up delicately, careful with her big belly, and places  
/her on the bed they added there for her. She asks him if he can hold her and he does.

"STOP," I yell more forcefully.

"It wasn't _me_ she needed, you asshole," he tell me, "But I was close enough." He shoves my chest hard and I trip on something, landing on my back; Jasper's foot is what tripped me and his knee comes down to by throat to keep me there. Images flow  
/from his mind and I can do nothing but stand there and take it.

It must me around seven minutes that both Jasper and Emmett bombard me with memories of her; it becomes too much. Her face alone is enough to warm my heart.

"Enough," Alice's voice fills the forest around us and both of my brothers turn to look at her, my eyes seek her out too. She steps closer and glares at me, "Dear brother has made up his mind, you can let him up." Jasper and Emmett back up and Demetri  
/helps me out of my chains. My gaze lets him know that this is not over between us and he swallows. Alice walks up to me and slaps me across the face; I don't feel pain, my head turns to the side, but I know what the action is supposed to mean. "Bella  
/is my friend and if you don't pull your act together, I will end you, brother." Her mind fills with a vision of me running towards Carlisle's place through the woods and I know that it is the reason she called them off. I could always make a run for  
/it… Her eyes narrow and she snaps at me, "You do that and we will get these guys back with a lot more bodily harm to you than what you went through today." I feel her wrath more than I hear it in her voice.

"You sure became friends with her quickly. Last I knew you were still shopping buddies… and by shopping buddies I mean she suffered and you shopped," I say as I shake off the dirt.

Her eyes narrow and glare at me, for a small thing she can be real scary sometimes, "You haven't been around for some time. I think you can hardly judge the current state of relationships in Bella's life." Her words stink and I lower my eyes to the ground.

I swallow unnecessarily, to give me something to do, "Can I still fix this?"

Her eyes fog as she looks at the future and I follow her visions closely. I smile when a clear future reveals itself of Bella smiling at me, running and throwing her arms around my shoulders. Alice gives me a knowing smirk, turns and starts walking away  
/with confidence. Jasper, ever the loyal puppy, follows behind her swiftly while Emmett smiles and slaps a hand on my shoulder, "How the hell did you knock up a human without killing her?"

"Self-control," it is known that Emmett doesn't have any.

He cracks up laughing and we start running towards Bella's location. I throw one last look at the vampires who helped take me down and I make a list of all of them, a couple wince at me but take off in the opposite direction. Alec and Demetri exchange  
/a look and follow behind us closely.

"When did you last see her?" I ask Emmett as we race through the forest. We should be in Carlisle's property in about twenty one minutes.

"Yesterday. Before we came back to plan the last details of the plan to take you down," he replies, looking way too pleased with himself.

"How is she?"

He sighs, "She misses you but tries not to show it."

My jaw clenches.

"The babies are also killing her slowly." My head snaps towards him and his eyes are cast forward as we run, intently avoiding my gaze. "They seem to be equal parts you and her which means that their strength ranges somewhere in between the two of you  
/but contrary to us, their brains are too small to understand that they are kicking her lungs or punching her ribs-" He stops when my horrified expression becomes too obvious. "We had to give her blood too- Now calm down." Apparently I could look even  
/worse than before. "We _had_ to. They were draining _her_ blood so we had to give her more. It is part of what sustains you, so it made sense."

I nod, too trapped in my own jumble of thoughts to be able to articulate words.

"She is scared and horny but she hides both emotions well enough, for a human." Emmett jumps over a small river and I follow. "The babies are growing fast which means that she could deliver anytime between now and the next three weeks. Carlisle is not  
/sure exactly when but she should deliver before the end of those three weeks."

The magnitude of those words is suddenly too much to bear. I stop, sending dirt and roots everywhere from the impact of my feet, and stare up at the starry sky. Emmett makes a turn and comes back while my two traitorous bodyguards flank me on either side.  
/"What have I done?" I ask desperately.

Emmett place both hands on my shoulders, "Nothing that cannot be fixed. That girl should hate your guts and not want to hear your name ever again, but instead she has defended you every single time we bad-mouthed you in front of her." My chest recalls  
/the emotions that used to dance in it whenever she was near that seem to have been forgotten since the last time I saw her.

Emmett recalls a memory of Bella asking him about why vampires purr and he told her that we only do in the presence of our mate and only when we are genuinely happy. "When was the last time for you?" he asks me.

"Before I found out she was pregnant," I admit after some hesitation.

"You are an idiot," he says as we see the estate in the distance, "No arguments there. But you are my brother and I love you and I actually like this fragile human who charmed the beast in you. So, get your head out of your ass and fix it. All you have  
/to do is say you are sorry and she will do the rest."

I smirk at him and decide to deflect, " _My head out of my ass_? That's a very 21st century phrase. Been hanging too much with the Newborn Vamps?" he shoves me hard so my running line takes a detour.

We run up to the house and Esme is standing there with her arms folded over her chest and the most 'mother disapproves' expression on her face. Oh-oh. Her thoughts let me know that she will tear me a new one after I am done reconciling with Bella. She  
/glares at me and points to the backyard with a single fingerbefore she goes back to glaring at me.

I nod, round the house to go to the back yard and freeze at the sight in front of me.

Bella is staring at the sky, gentle snowflakes are falling softly on her face. Damn! What a sight!

As vampires we don't really pay attention to the weather because it doesn't feel any different on our skins, but to a human, snowing is a huge change to everyday life. It must have started snowing about three minutes before we got here and Bella came  
/out to enjoy the fresh snow. It is just thick enough to tempt her to stick out her tongue to catch one. I watch as a single snowflake travels through the air and lands on her tongue, making her giggle and pull it back in her mouth. Her cheeks are  
/turning red from the chilly weather offering a marvelous contrast to her while flesh.

Her laugh is so transparent that I want to hear it again, she rotates in a circle, almost like dancing in the snow, and trips over her own feet. Rosalie's hands steady her and Bella laughs harder. I notice how giant her belly is. Wow. My hand moves to  
/my chest to control the bubbling feelings that are chocking me at the sight of her. She has never looked more beautiful! So long apart and I can do nothing but stare at her like an idiot.

Her eyes snap to me, almost as if she knew I was here or she caught me from the side of her eye. I freeze even further and panic as I wait for her answer. Her eyes widen just a fraction and that beautiful smile becomes a small 'o', completely shocked  
/to see me there.

Okay, okay, I am panicking now. I am panicking-

Her entire face lights up and her smile radiates happiness. I watch her run towards me, her lips stretching to accommodate her smile and she throws her arms over my shoulders. My own arms wrap around her ribcage, pressing her breasts and giant belly to  
/me, Ilift her up and turn her around. My nose inhales into her neck and I close my eyes as the familiar scent and touch calms my raging soul.

She laughs as I turn her around and buries her face on my neck. She shamelessly breathes me in, much like I did but less discrete, and starts patting her lips all over my skin. The tingles emanate from each point she presses her lips to starting with  
/my neck, up my jaw, across my cheek and pauses over my lips. Her brown eyes look into mine intently, mouth hanging open, and I am breathing her in heavily, getting drunk off her taste.

"Please forgive me," I gasp out, desperately asking for a place back in her heart.

Her smile becomes a small stretch this time, "You are an idiot," she pauses and I fear that she will stop there, "I forgive you," she whispers and I smile gratefully, "Now kiss me," she demands and I comply happily. My mouth captures hers and she mewls  
/loudly as she devours my mouth; her taste as amazing as I remember but with a touch of desperation mixed in with the usual emotions of longing and fulfillment.

I purr and she laughs happily at the sound.


	11. Chapter 11

Bella's skin is incredibly soft against my lips as they rest on her cheekbone. We are laying on the couch in her bedroom, me with my back on the armrest, one leg against the back of the couch and one resting on the floor, and Bella nested in the space between them, leaning against my chest and holding my hands flat on her belly to feel our babies moving inside her.

"Are they always this active?" I ask in amazement when I feel another movement underneath her skin. It is surreal to know that there is a living being inside her that is cooking until it is ready to face the world. Two living being, actually.

Two…

"Not always, their activity seems to increase with my heartbeat," she says and blushes. I focus on my sense of hearing and pick up her elevated beat.

"Why is your pulse high?" the spot on her neck between the two major arteries looks inviting, so I give it a gentle kiss. Her heart starts beating faster, sending the pulse through her entire body, including her protruding belly that my hands are holding.

"Why are you purring?" she answers my question with a fiery question of her own. The rumbling tremor that has slowed down to a gentle vibration is still enough for her to feel it as she rests against my chest.

"Fair enough," I smile and run my palms over her bruises. She sighs at my cool touch, "They are really hurting you, aren't they?"

"They have been better recently, almost as if they recognize that they are hurting me and they are trying to control themselves." She says and runs her palm over my forearm. I am about to say something when she opens her mouth and yawns loudly. I chuckle at the humanity of the action and pick her up easily, she squeals and holds on tighter. The mattress dips when I place her on it and she pulls me down with her to snuggle. I have spent too long away from her to deny her anything she wants, especially when it is me.

She yawns, whispers, "I'm horny," and snuggles closer to me, her actions contradicting her words.

I chuckle, "You are exhausted," I counter, "Sleep and maybe in the morning we can revisit the topic."

"We better," she mumbles and starts snoring at the end of the word. I smile, pleased, and hold her closer, feeling the little devils dancing inside her belly that is pressed against my abdomen.

For the following three hours and twenty six minutes, I watch her sleep, listening to my family downstairs. Her skin is withered and her hair doesn't shine like it used to, plus she has lost a lot of the fat and muscle everywhere besides her baby bump. I don't believe the age wrinkles around her eyes and mouth, she hasn't aged that much since I last saw her, but they are there, obvious signs of the energy and life drain this pregnancy is putting her through.

"Carlisle," I say loud enough for him to hear, but not too loud to wake up Bella.

Four seconds later, the door opens with Carlisle holding his doctor folders in his hands. "I assume these are what you want?" he holds them up and I nod; I am not getting up to get them and he knows it. He flips through the papers and lets me read the contents through his mind as he reads them.

"So, you don't know how much internal damage she has suffered," I conclude after he is done reading the examination he gave her along with all the lab and x-ray results.

"No, over the last few weeks, the fluid around them has hardened and is it impossible to get a read on them. Which means that they might take more after you than her. I thought about making an incision to take a look inside," he pauses at my murderous glare and raises both hands up in surrender, "but the scalpel couldn't cut more than two millimeters of skin."

"Is that what this is?" I say and trace a finger over a four-inch scar on her belly. When he nods, I want to rip off his arms and light him on fire.

"I just wanted to help," he says in his defense, catching the dangerous shine in my eyes and apologizing with his thoughts over and over again. "I need something from you," he holds a syringe and approaches cautiously. I read in his mind that he needs my venom in stock just in case we need it in a hurry, so I open my mouth to allow him to take it. He slides the needle in and pulls the end part to capture the liquid I stored there. Once he has filled 500ml, he is satisfied and retreats from the bed.

"Tell me about my kids," I demand, feeling weird about using that word and the implications that follow. When I was in med school, I often read that moms always felt a calling to have kids, but dads rarely felt much until they held them in their arms. I think I fall into that category; how can I love someone more than Bella? Sure, I care about them, but they are also killing my mate.

"They seem strong and getting stronger every second. They might be too strong for her since all the internal bruising doesn't normally occur in human pregnancies." He clears his throat completely unnecessarily, causing me to arch an eyebrow at him, "They have kicked her in her bladder four times already, hard enough to cause an accident." My eyes fall to my love's face and I kiss her cheek gently, "She was embarrassed for a long time after each episode, but Rosalie was very nice to her every time, took her in her arms and gave her an nice, warm bath."

I arch another eyebrow at him, "Rosalie?"

"Yes, your sister has shown more compassion towards your mate than I have seen since I turned her." He smiles evilly, "It was quite funny to watch Emmett be jealous." He laughs and I laugh with him as a memory enters his conscious mind; Rosalie shuts the door in Emmett's face and he is whimpering like an abandoned puppy until she opened the door and pets him behind the ears, a disapproving look on his face at her actions.

"I should go thank them all for everything they've done for her in my absence," I say and look back at Carlisle, "Everything _you've_ done. Thank you, Carlisle." He puts an hand on my shoulder and I hear his thoughts in return. They are enough for us to set everything straight. "Show me what I've missed?" I meant it as a statement but it came out as a question. For two hours he shows me memory after memory of her, coming over with Jasper and Alice when she didn't think she could do it on her own, spending time with the family and warming her way into everyone's hearts in a very 'Bella' way. I smile when I see her holding a burger out for Emmett, tempting him to eat it while he holds both hands over his mouth to keep it shut. Bella frowns adorably when Alice treats her like a doll and dresses her all in pink before she gets an evil look on her face, waits until Alice leaves to hunt, grabs a pair of scissors and cuts the offending pink clothes to small pieces. If Alice was able to pass out, she would have the moment she returned and found Bella sleeping peacefully in her bed with a pile of pink shreds on the floor beside her-

"What was that?" Carlisle asks alarmed the second he hears the exact tearing sound I heard and we both smell blood emanating from Bella's vagina.

Before I can reply, Bella opens her eyes and screams at the top of her lungs, scaring the shit out me, and her whole body flexes on the bed; every muscle left in her delicate frame becomes tense and her back arches off the bed as the screaming continues. I hop off the bed, pull the blankets back and both Carlisle and I gasp when we see a baby hand and forearm sticking from the hole between her legs, grasping wildly at the sheets, turning them red, in an attempt to grab a leverage and pull itself out of her body. Bella's legs start to jolt around as the veins in her neck and chest pop up and turn blue. A wail leaves her mouth before it shuts and her jaw clenches so hard that the skin around it pulls uncomfortably. The little, red hand pulls on the sheets.

The sight is beyond scary, leaving me paralyzed and gaping at my mate with an open mouth. "Are they trying to crawl out of her?" I wonder as white horror screams inside me.

"What the hell was that scream?" I hear Rosalie yell as they all run up the stairs and the door flies open to let them all filter in and pause as they see the second hand of the baby reach out and grab the sheets as well. Bella thrusts up so she is leaning on her elbows, glaring at us and demands, "Help them. Now." Sweat is already forming on her face, armpits and torso.

Carlisle jumps on the bed and pushes her legs apart, Rosalie runs to her side and holds her hand tight as she presses a cold hand on her forehead to calm down her fever. I run to Carlisle's bag and dig around to find what I am looking for. My fingers wrap around the morphine syringe as a cry fills the room. It is different than anything I have ever heard and definitely not one of the adults. I turn my head to look between Bella's legs and see a small head peeking out, crying on the top of its lungs before Carlisle grabs it and pulls it out of her.

A loud cracking sound comes from inside her body and Bella's hand flies to her ribs as she screams her lungs out, completely destroying her vocal cords and turning her screams into hoarse yelps. Carlisle says, "Boy," and places the baby in Alice's arms that are holding a white towel open for him.

Another loud crack sounds from inside Bella and her legs fall on the bed, unmoving; that was her spine. Bella drools and passes out from the pain. My hand gets the syringes with the venom Carlisle extracted earlier and I run to her. On my way to her side, I see the hands from the second baby trying to find their way out of her body. I bring my hands over her chest, place first the morphine needle over her heart and press it in.

"The second baby is not out yet," Carlisle screams at me but I ignore him and press the liquid in her heart.

"Then get it out of her," I reply and switch the morphine for the venom syringe and press that in too. "Rosalie, CPR." I demand and her hands fly to her heart, pressing down on it in quick succession. I dive into her neck, sink my teeth in and inject her with venom.

Damn!

It has been too long since I tasted human blood that it takes me a second longer to convince myself to extract from her flesh. I run my tongue over the wound to seal the venom in and grab her wrist, bite down hard and unleash a hefty amount of venom there as well. I faintly hear Carlisle announce a girl before I move to her other wrist and then her right ankle. By the time I move to her left ankle, I can taste the venom in her blood, so I know she doesn't need anymore.

I move to her head and hold it in my hands, "You are coming back, you hear me?" I press my lips to her and transfer some of her blood from my mouth to her lips. My fingers move over them to get the blood off her and I turn to Rosalie, who is still applying pressure to her heart.

"Her heart is getting stronger," she informs me and I see the effort it is taking for her to press down to it.

"Good… that's good," I murmur, if her organs are already changing, it means that her transformation has already began. "Why isn't she screaming though?" when a human changes to a vampire, they suffer tremendous amounts of pain, causing them to yell out for days. Bella is quiet.

"Maybe the morphine helped?" Rosalie says hopefully and stops, "There, it is already in her system, no point in continuing." She eyes me and frowns, "You look terrible. Go change, shower and then go see your kids. I will clean her up and put her in some clothes." I look down and see the state of my clothing, then realize that the three of us are the only ones left in the room.

My eyes turn to Rosalie to see her gently brushing some of the hair away from Bella's eyes; the movement too kind for her. "Why are you being so nice to her?" I ask Rosalie suspiciously. Her eyes regard me with disinterest, "You are never nice. To anyone. Not even Emmett. Why her?"

"Go change and go see your kids," she says, dismissing me, and grabs a sponge and a bucket of water to clean the blood and sweat off her skin.

I walk to the attached bathroom and look into the mirror; my eyes have turned red due to the blood I drank from her body. I take a deep breath and place a hand at the back of my neck to pull the shirt off.

I don't feel ready for any of this.


End file.
